


The Time Of Our Lives

by YouCanTurnItOff



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Marauders' Era, Romance, Slow Burn, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-20
Updated: 2016-09-21
Packaged: 2018-06-09 16:41:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6915079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YouCanTurnItOff/pseuds/YouCanTurnItOff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Seeing Harry's distraught state, Hermione decides to make a dangerous gamble and sets out to travel back in time to save Sirius. Her spell backfires and Hermione wakes up in the time of the Marauders. Unable to make her way back immediately, she is faced with the task of befriending a young, arrogant and enigmatic Sirius Black along with his friends. No Time Turner involved! Post OOTP.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all its characters belong to the wonderful J.K Rowling.
> 
> Universe: Mostly the marauders era
> 
> Time period: Just after The Order of the Phoenix
> 
> Rating: M for language, possible scenes of violence and the depiction of sexual scenes later on

 

* * *

 

Hermione had been tossing and turned on the uncomfortable hospital wing bed for what seemed like hours. After their little adventure in the department of mysteries, Madam Pomfrey had made everyone spend a night at the hospital wing. Well, _she_ was in for a little more than just one day because Dolohov's curse had rendered her quite weak. She winced slightly as a sudden streak of pain shot up her ribs and she rubbed the spot gently as she stared out of the window to distract herself. It was past three in the morning and sleep still evaded her. One glance towards the dark sky told her that today was the full moon. She wondered how her former Defense Against The Dark Arts professor was faring tonight, given his lycanthropy.

Hermione had always been an extremely smart and talented girl. She depended mostly on logic and it helped her grasp things which often slipped past others notice. She had a keen eye and her observational skills were hardly matched by anyone from their year at Hogwarts. She had been the first one to figure out Remus Lupin's condition and had it been any other case, it would have annoyed her a bit. It seemed to her that the other people around her had a knack for ignoring glaring facts which were quite obvious, really.

She had also been the one to point out to Harry that Voldemort's vision could be a trick to lure him into the Department of Mysteries but given their current circumstances, she was hardly in a position to say 'I told you so'. Throughout her life, sense and logic had been her best companions and it annoyed her to no extent when people didn't care about evidence and facts. Harry had acted purely on instinct and had been overwhelmed by his emotions and despite her _stark_ disapproval; she had followed him to the Department of Mysteries without further argument. Needless to say, the whole ordeal had been catastrophic and…

Her eyes fluttered shut as she inhaled deeply and tried not to think about it. About _him._ She turned her face away from the window and her gaze fell upon Ginny. Madame Pomfrey had given her potions for the pain in her ankle, which was slowly mending and had decided to keep her overnight for observation. She was curled up in a tight ball and her breathing followed a relaxed, rhythmic pattern indicating that she was in a state of deep sleep. Opposite Hermione's bed lay the blonde haired Ravenclaw, Luna Lovegood. She hadn't sustained any major injuries either except for a few cuts and lacerations of her face and arms and even though Hermione didn't agree with Luna's views, she was nonetheless relieved to know that she was alright. On her right side were the boy's beds, separated from the girls by a thin partition. The curtain wasn't drawn over fully and she was able to make out Ron, Neville and Harry's silhouette in the dim light case by the full moon.

_Harry…_

She gnawed at her bottom lip as she gazed at his sleeping form. It wasn't natural sleep. Madam Pomfrey had literally forced down vials of calming draughts and dreamless sleeping potions down his throat to calm him down. Her mind drifted back a few hours as she recalled the state Harry had been in when a very grave headmaster had escorted him in. Hermione had been a bit groggy from all the pain killing potions she had taken and she had regained consciousness just a few hours ago. The place where Dolohov's curse had hit her felt like it was on fire and the right side of her ribs throbbed with pain.

" _LEAVE ME ALONE!" Harry thundered and golden-red sparks had shot out from the end of his wand, which was tightly clutched in his right hand. His hand was shaking and the knuckles had turned white as bone. The headmaster looked helpess and he tried to reason with Harry but to no avail. Harry kicked a small bedside table in his rage, knocking a variety of healing potions in crystal vials to the ground. They smashed into tiny little pieces as soon as they hit the cold stone floor, staining it in a variety of colours from the potions._

" _Harry-" Professor Dumbledore began, only to be cut off by Harry again._

" _Don't." He replied in a dangerously calm voice. "You knew…" His voice shook as he took a step away from Dumbledore. "You bloody knew it all along! You chose to ignore me throughout the year, you put that greasy git in charge of teaching me occlumency-" Harry let out a hysterical laugh and it scared Hermione. She had never seen Harry act like this before. "YOU COULD HAVE DONE THINGS DIFFERENTLY! HE DIED BECAUSE OF YOU!"_

_Hermione shot a horrified glance at Ron, who was still under the influence of a sedation potion. He had been badly hurt by the brain like creatures which had attacked him in the brain room. Luna was watching Harry with a vacant expression like him having a shouting match with Dumbledore was nothing out of ordinary. Neville was cowering at the corner of his bed and Ginny-_

" _Harry, you need to calm down." Ginny said from her bedside with a look of frustration on her face at not being able to get up due to her broken ankle._

_Harry ignored her. Despite the pain she was in, Hermione made an effort to rise up. Harry was clearly in a lot of anguish and she had to stop him before he did something stupid-_

" _What on earth is going on in here?" Madam Pomfrey rushed out of her office with a wand in her hand just as Hermione was about to intervene. "Mr. Potter! What in the name of Merlin do you think you're doing? This is a hospital!"_

" _Stay out of it." Harry glowered at her, clearly not thinking straight. Madam Pomfrey straightened up and narrowed her eyes at Harry. "I know you're going through a lot Mr. Potter but I would not tolerate students taking up that tone with me. Sit down and let me have a look at you."_

_Despite himself, Harry calmed down a bit and even seemed a bit ashamed as he turned his eyes towards the floor. It was like Madam Pomfrey's words had broken the spell and brought him back to reality. Professor Dumbledore had a few words with Madam Pomfrey before he exited as Harry slumped down on an empty bed between Hermione and Ron. Madam Pomfrey bustled around as she assembled various potions for Harry. Hermione recognized the Calming draught and a small vial which contained dreamless sleep potion for twelve hours of unbroken sleep._

" _Take these, Mr. Potter." The medi-witch held out two vials for him and for an instance Harry looked like he would object but after a moment, the mutinous expression faded away only to be replaced by resignation. He sighed and gulped the potions down in one go. Satisfied, Madam Pomfrey nodded at Harry and Hermione noticed a glimpse of sadness on her face as she patted his shoulder realized at that moment that he…Sirius probably had been a frequent visitor to the Hospital Wing back when he was a student given his reckless nature._

_Poppy Pomfrey made her way towards Hermione and summoned a kit of potions which were exclusively made for treating injuries from dark magic._

" _How are you feeling, Miss Granger?"_

" _A bit groggy and my ribs hurt but apart from that, I feel okay I think." She replied as she gulped the bitter potions down and tried not to gag._

" _Performing dark magic on students…what else is to be expected from these death eaters…?" Madam Pomfrey muttered to herself as she collected the empty vials and vanished the spilled potions from the floor where Harry had knocked them down. After checking on Ron one last time, she switched the lights off and retired to her office-room for the night. Hermione's head jerked to the side as she heard a gut wrenching sob escape Harry's lips. She watched helplessly as she broke down and hid his face between his hands, curling up into a tight ball on the bed. Tears formed in her as she witnessed his state and beside her, she heard Ginny sniffle as well._

_One vial of the Calming Draught was simply not enough to take away the pain of a dead Father figure._

* * *

Ron's sudden snore brought her mind back to the present. He mumbled a string of words which suspiciously sounded like something straight out of Luna's fantasy world before he drifted back to sleep. The effect of the pain killing potions was wearing off and Hermione's discomfort was growing. She bit her lip as the pain reached unbearable levels. Madam Pomfrey had said that the dark curse had damaged her internal organs and would have certainly killed her had Dolohov uttered the curse verbally. Thankfully, the damage was not beyond repair and in a week's time, she would be back on her feet.

Hermione fumbled for her wand on the bedside table but she couldn't find it. After a bit, her hand finally hit something and before she could catch it, the wand cluttered down onto the floor and rolled away from her bed. Hermione groaned and threw her arm over her eyes in frustration. She had wanted to summon some pain killers from Madam Pomfrey's store but the wand was out of her reach and her inability to get up rendered her unable to do so.

"Here." Her eyes flew open and she saw that Ginny was standing beside her with a vial in her hand. "Ginny? You ankle…?" Hermione asked her, feeling concerned.

"Completely healed." The red headed Weasley smiled at her as she did a little twirl as demonstration.

"You're a life saver." Hermione muttered as Ginny helped her sit up. She gulped down the potion as if it was water and didn't mind the bitter taste as instantaneous relief coursed through her body, relieving her of her pain.

"Do you mind if I sit down for a while?" Ginny gestured to the edge of Hermione's bed "I can't sleep."

"Not at all." Hermione replied as she slumped back against her puffy pillow "I can't sleep either."

"What a day, huh?" Ginny said wryly as she hopped up onto the bed and brought her knees to her chest while looping her arms over them.

"It was…I don't know…" Hermione fumbled to find the right words but for once, she couldn't come up with anything.

"Catastrophic? Horrifying? Tragic?" Ginny helped her by throwing in some.

"That about sums it up." Hermione mumbled.

"I've never seen Harry so broken down." Ginny said as she shot Harry's sleeping form a worried glance. "Earlier, it looked as if he was ready to tear Dumbledore's throat out. There was this strange, maniacal gleam in his eyes…"

"I know." Hermione agreed, for once ignoring Ginny's use of _Professor_ Dumbledore's name without the title of respect. "I wonder what happened in the headmaster's office."

"I think he is very distraught over Sirius' death and he is looking for someone to blame. " Ginny replied as she rested her cheek on top of her knees. "Not that I blame him…I would have been the same if I were in his place, if not worse."

Ginny's use of Sirius' name made Hermione wince a little but the she didn't notice and instead kept her eyes locked on Harry. Although they had never interacted much, Hermione had always been a little intrigued by Sirius. She had wanted to help him since the very beginning when they had come to know about him being not guilty of Pettigrew's murder. At first glance, Sirius seemed to be a figure straight out of Hermione's nightmares. He was reckless, highly irresponsible and took uncalculated risks. As far as she knew him, she had observed that Sirius had always seen Harry as his long lost friend James while Harry admired and loved him as a father figure. While Sirius had tried to look after Harry as best as he could, his careless and impulsive attitude had rendered him unable of doing so, even if he wanted to. The main reason Harry had bolted off to the Department of Mysteries without a second thought was because he knew that Sirius was epitome of recklessness and it was highly possible that he had ventured out and got himself caught by Voldemort's followers. Since the beginning when she had first come to know Sirius, she had felt herself dangerously drawn to him for some reason. Despite all his negative qualities, she strangely found herself admiring him in a way. Hermione had always been the one to follow rules. She had always been the model student and a source of inspiration for others. She knew that she could get a bit bossy and uptight at times but these features were a part of who she was and she embraced them with full vigor. Sirius was the polar opposite of her and had no regard for any sort of rules or regulations. Soon, Hermione had found herself grudgingly admiring his freedom and open mindedness. She had genuinely felt sorry for him when he had been forced to stay inside Grimmauld place even though it was for his own good. Sirius simply wasn't one to sit around and watch others do stuff. He was a man of action.

Moreover, there was a thing which deeply disturbed her in regard with Sirius. The man felt somehow familiar to her but she couldn't place her finger on how and why. What was it about him that had intrigued her so much? Whenever she thought about him, it always felt like a half remembered dream…

She shook her head to clear it. Her thoughts clearly weren't making sense and all the potions she was taking were messing with her head.

"-I really hope that all these calming potions have some effect on Harry and help him cool off a bit. I really don't like seeing him in this state." Ginny's voice broke through her thoughts and brought her back to reality.

"Yeah." Hermione sighed, "Me too, Ginny."

"Well." Ginny hopped down from the bed and stretched like a cat, "I am off to bed. If you need something, just holler okay?"

"Okay. Thanks Gin."

"Don't be stupid, Hermione." Ginny rolled her eyes as she sauntered off to her bed and plopped down on top of it. "Night."

"Goodnight." Hermione replied. Within minutes, Ginny was snoring.

Hermione let out a frustrated sigh as she stared at the high ceiling of the hospital wing. What was wrong with her? She was physically and mentally exhausted yet sleep was miles away. Unbidden thoughts kept attacking her mind like a pack of canaries. Since she had never lost somebody dear to her, she didn't exactly know what Harry was going through but she knew that he was hurting a lot. The mere thought of losing her parents made her want to cry and Harry had already lost them even before he had a chance to know them. Sirius had come into his life like a ray of hope but before long, he was gone too.

The thought hurt her more than she had anticipated and her eyes filled up with tears. Harry's godfather, his friend, his Father figure was gone. Lost permanently. She closed her eyes and begged for sleep to come, hoping against hope that it will all turn out to be a nightmare. That they will wake up in their dorms in the Gryffindor tower and go attend their classes like usual. That Sirius would be safe and sound at Number twelve, Grimmauld Place. She wished that she could do something. After all, she had saved Sirius once along with Harry in their third year by going back in time…

She shot up in her bed, ignoring the pain that shot through her rib area as her brown eyes grew wide as her breathing sped up. No…no this was a different scenario…Sirius was dead and he simply couldn't be brought back to life.

_Or maybe …just maybe._

She ran her fingers through her tangled, bushy hair as a thousand ideas flooded her mind. Each and every one of them required meddling with time in a very dangerous way that could probably get her killed. Or worse, _expelled i_ f caught.

* * *

"Harry?" Remus Lupin's voice woke Hermione up. She shielded her eyes from the blinding sunlight that was pouring in through a window directly above her bed. Judging from the position of the sun, she could tell that it was past noon.

"Professor Lupin…what are you doing here?" Harry croaked out as he clumsily pushed his glasses back on to his face. He had clearly just woken up along with Hermione.

"I am sorry, I didn't want to wake you up but I wanted to make sure that you were fine after…yesterday. And, it's Remus." He reminded Harry gently, having retired from his position as a professor long ago.

Harry remained quiet as he sat up in his bed, refusing to meet anyone's eyes. Ginny and Luna's beds were empty beside her and Neville was having his breakfast in his bed, silently observing the scene with nervous eyes. Ron was still unconscious but Madam Pomfrey had assured them that he needed to rest and would stay like this for a day or two.

Hermione groggily sat up and glanced at Remus. He looked worse than she had ever seen him. His eyes had deep shadows beneath them and his skin had an unhealthy grey pallor to it. His robes were patched and frayed at various places and his almost grey hair looked limp and lifeless. She bit her lower lip when she noticed that his eyes were red rimmed and bloodshot.

"Ah, good morning Hermione. How are you faring?" Lupin asked when he noticed that she was awake.

"I am better, thank you. I am sorry but _you_ look awful, Remus." Hermione admitted as she clasped her hands together. The werewolf threw her a wry smile as he shook his head. "Yesterday was the full moon, you should be resting." Hermione added with a touch of bossiness.

"It's been very hard…" He began but stopped speaking, not knowing how to continue. He cleared his throat and Hermione quickly changed the subject as a shadow passed over Harry's face. She doubted anyone wanted a repeat of yesterday.

"God, I am hungry. I wonder when Madam Pomfrey will let us out."

"When you have completely healed." Madam Pomfrey's voice came from behind her and Hermione's face went red. She noticed that the medi-witch was levitating two trays of foods in the air and her stomach growled at the mere sight of food.

"There you go, Miss Granger." Madam Pomfrey set a plate on Hermione's bedside table. She made a face when she saw her food consisted mostly of porridge and some apple juice. She detested porridge.

"I am not hungry." Harry replied when Madam Pomfrey urged him to eat. She sighed and shook her head.

"As you wish, I'll just leave it here then." She turned to Lupin, "Hello Remus, I don't see you around much these days."

"Poppy." Remus nodded his greeting and smiled at her, choosing not to reply to her latter statement.

"How are you faring?" Madam Pomfrey asked, worry etched in every line on her face. "You look-"

"Awful, yes. Hermione already pointed it out." Remus replied in a tired voice.

Hermione blushed in embarrassment and ducked her head low. She reached for the goblet full of apple juice and took a sip, relishing the feel of the cool juice going down her parched throat.

"Are you taking your potions every month?" Madam Pomfrey pressed him.

"I can't afford them anymore, Poppy. You know that." He replied as he kept his eyes fixed on Harry. "Our position is worse than ever." Hermione didn't need to question him about who he meant by 'our'. The discrimination against Werewolves was worse than ever and it was nearly impossible for them to hold a job these days with the growing unrest.

Before Madam Pomfrey could reply, the doors opened again and Professor Dumbledore came in. Hermione shot Harry a nervous glance but he looked more ashamed than angry.

"Ah Remus, Minerva told me I would find you here." He said as he conjured a chair for himself and Remus both. "Sit down, please."

"Thank you, Albus." Remus nodded.

"Professor I-" Harry began but hesitated for a second. "I am sorry for my behavior last night." He finally managed while he stared at his shoes like they were the most interesting thing in the world.

Dumbledore smiled at him benevolently and Hermione let out a relieved sigh. It was going to be alright.

* * *

The week had gone by fairly quick. Hermione had visited the restricted section of the library by "borrowing" Harry's invisibility cloak after she had been given the leave from the hospital wing. She had scoured through each and every book about time travel and the veil through which Sirius had fallen. She recoiled at half the things which were written in them and most of them contained strange rituals and required ingredients which were impossible to obtain. The methods were not even verified and she had no proof that they even worked. Not to mention, all of them had branches in extremely dark magic and required breaking more than a dozen rules and regulation set by the Ministry of Magic.

She had been reading a book the night before they were scheduled to depart for London by the Hogwarts Express and she was almost ready to give up, dismissing her idea as stupid –not to mention extremely dangerous- when she came across a paragraph in a dated copy of _A Hundred and One Magical Mysteries._

_Known Methods of Time Travel:_

_(1.) Time Turners: Authenticated by the Ministry of Magic. Illegal or inappropriate acquisition/use of Time Turners without being registered with the ministry can lead to a sentence in the Azkaban if caught…_

"I already know that." Hermione muttered, a bit annoyed as she turned the page.

_(2.) Temporal Fields: Not a recommended method for time travelling. Although a Temporal Field can be created by anyone in a possession of a wand, it is not known to work since sending one's consciousness back into the past has not been possible except for when he or she dies. Consciousness as a whole is unable of residing in two bodies at the same time unlike the soul, which can be easily split by using various means. (Not recommended either). A brave few had stepped forward in the recent past (Name will not be provided due to maintain confidentiality) and have given up their lives to test out this hypothesis…_

Hermione shuddered as she read further, appalled by the number of people who had attempted this method and had probably failed since no evidence existed of its success.

"This was a bad idea. I shouldn't even be researching about this stuff." She muttered even as her eyes shifted to the third and last method.

_(3.) The Tempus Revocatas Ritual: Currently undergoing extensive research in the department of mysteries. Not much is known about it except that it is highly dangerous and requires an extremely good knowledge about ancient runes. There have been a few success stories but most wizards who have attempted this elaborate ritual have been lost in a time storm and have been never heard from again. Due to the complicated nature of this project, names cannot be provided._

_Time travel is a field of magic which is highly dangerous. Meddling with time can have unknown and even disastrous results. The person who intends to time travel can do it through two methods- Time Turners and The Tempus Revocatas Ritual. The second method is highly dangerous and not at all advised as it can lead to catastrophic events and even death. The Veil of Shadows has been known to act as a two way portal leading to the realm of death and a portal for time travel when enchanted with the Tempus Revocatas. Ongoing research still hasn't figured out how the Veil can act as a two way portal but those who have been known to try have either died or have been caught up in a time storm, ending in places (be it the past or the future) that no one has been able to figure out. There have been a few success stories but we would strongly suggest the reader not to indulge into this ritual as it has not been approved by the ministry and is banned in most wizarding societies. Using illegal spells and rituals can lead to a life long sentence in Azkaban…_

Her heart was hammering in her chest by the time she stopped reading. "What?" Hermione whispered as she turned the page but she couldn't find more information on the dual nature of the veil. She slammed the book shut in disgust as her mind started whirring with ideas.

Something about this ritual appealed to her and for the first time in her life, she found herself ignoring the warning strewn throughout the book. She _did_ have a good knowledge of ancient runes…

Hermione was intrigued by the dual nature of the veil through which Sirius had passed into the realm of the dead. It acted not only as a portal to death but also as a time machine of sorts when activated with the right runes. She quickly opened the book again and waved her wand over the page, creating a copy of it and stuffing it in the innermost pocket of her robe. She needed to do more research on this specific ritual which turned the veil of death into a time portal. She had already exhausted her options in the school library (not to mention how many rules she had broken in doing so.) and only one option came to her mind. Knockturn Alley.


	2. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione makes a dangerous gamble with time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Important: I made a small plot change. Instead of saying that the veil has a dual nature, I rewrote that another archway exists in the DOM which acts like a time portal to avoid confusion.

* * *

* * *

 

“Harry, wake up!” Hermione hissed, trying to shake her best friend awake. Harry had been given the permission to sleep back in his dormitory. Ron, however, was still confined to the Hospital Wing, much to his very _vocal_ displeasure.

“Wha-?” Harry sat up with a jerk and Hermione put a finger to his lips and pointed to the stairs, casting a fleeting glance at Neville, Seamus and Dean. They were still fast asleep, thankfully. After pushing his glasses on, Harry followed Hermione down the stairs and into the common room.

“Now, would you mind telling me why you’re dragging me off my bed at three in the morning?” Harry asked her as he stifled a yawn. “Wait a minute; is this one of your “you should talk about your grief, Harry” things? If so, then I’m-”

“Would you just stay quiet for a minute and listen to me?” Hermione snapped, effectively cutting him off. “And talking about your-your grief is a healthy way to-”

“The point, Hermione. Get to the point.” Harry interjected wearily as he plopped down on the sofa. Hermione sat down beside him and set the candle she was holding on the table as she unwound the scarf around her neck and thought of a good opener.

“Why are you all dressed up?” Harry noticed that Hermione was wearing a travelling cloak over her sweater and jeans and still had her boots on. “Hermione…what’s going on?” He asked her, sitting up straighter, his green eyes full of questions.

“Harry…you have to keep an open mind regarding what I am about to tell you and-and promise me you won’t get your hopes high. Or try to help me.” Hermione began, pausing for a moment as she fished out a slippery piece of fabric from her bag.

“That’s my invisibility cloak.” Harry murmured, taking it from her. Hermione looked away guiltily and Harry frowned.

“Hermione, if you needed my cloak, you could have just asked. I wouldn’t have said no.”

“I know, Harry, I know. It’s not that. I needed to do this thing…without anyone knowing.” Hermione said, fishing in her bag for something else. Finally, she managed to extract a leather bound book and propped it open in her lap. Hermione touched it only by the tips of her fingers and as she rifled through it, her expression was that of a person who had been forced to devour a lemon whole. It was as if the book thoroughly disgusted her.

“Just what is goin’ on?” Harry burst out as Hermione continued to riffle through the book with unbroken concentration.

“Oh, would you wait!” She snapped, effectively shutting him up. It was the last day of their term in Hogwarts and in the morning, they were set to depart for London by the Hogwarts Express. Hermione already felt like she had wasted too much time and if she didn’t do the spell before they left for Hogsmeade Station, she would be forced to wait out a whole summer and by then, it would be too late.

“Okay, Harry…” Hermione finally found what she was looking for and looked up at her friend, who was watching her with a mixture of curiosity, wariness and annoyance. “Remember out third year in Hogwarts?” She asked him gently.

“Of course. That was the only year Voldemort-” Hermione tried her best not to flinch at the name, “-didn’t make my life hell. How can I forget?”

“Yes. Do you remember what else happened that year?” She egged him on.

“I…we…we saved Sirius.” Harry whispered, “What are you getting at?”

“Exactly!” She beamed. “We used a time turner to go back in time and save Sirius. And it worked. Normally, I wouldn’t approve of or even think of meddling with time but it was…him. Your godfather.” Hermione placed her hand on top of Harry’s, which she noticed was clenched up into a fist beside him. “And I would do it again for you.”

Harry seemed to be fighting off the urge to bombard Hermione with questions as his mouth opened and closed like a fish. “How?” He finally asked her, trying hard not to get his hopes high. He doubted he would be able to take disappointment once again. Just a few hours ago before the feast at the Great Hall, he had tracked down Nearly Headless Nick and had asked him about the possibility of Sirius returning as a ghost. He had thoroughly resented the Gryffindor ghost for his response but a part of him knew it was true. Sirius would not have chosen the life of a ghost.

“How, Hermione?” Harry asked her again, “It’s been weeks since Sirius died. A time turner can only send someone back a few hours, right?”

“Who said anything about using a time turner?” Hermione said quietly, keeping her gaze fixed on a page of the book she was holding.

Harry listened carefully as Hermione recounted how she had slipped out from Hogwarts and had visited Knockturn Alley. Harry had tried interrupting her but Hermione’s sharp gaze had effectively shut him up. She continued and told him about a bookshop just behind Borgin and Burkes which specialized in all sorts of dark magic and that was where she had found this book.

“ _Time Meddlers_ by Victomycus Grey? If anything ever sounded Slytherin, it’s that name.” Harry muttered, running his fingers over the leather bounding of the book.

“And he probably was, judging by the contents of this book.” Hermione said under her breath and quickly spoke on as Harry raised an eyebrow. “Anyway, I found out that another archway exists in the Department of Mysteries which is almost a twin to the one in the Death Chamber in stature but this one…this one has the capability to send people back and forth in time when activated with the right runes.”

“Like a time machine.” Harry pitched in.

“Yes! I sometimes forget you’re as acquainted with muggle stuff as I am.” Hermione smiled at Harry. “Had it been Ronald in your place, he would have said something like-”

“A machine? That sounds like a disease!” Harry said in his best imitation of Ron and it had Hermione giggling.

“So we won’t be needing time turners and we can still go back in time through this archway? I didn’t see one the last time we were there.”

“We didn’t get a chance to open all the doors.” Hermione pointed out. “And it will probably be somewhere near the Time Room. It only seems logical.”

“We are not going back to that place, Hermione.”

“Harry-?”

“No!” Harry stood up and started pacing back and forth. “I already mislead all of you and you ended up in this mess because of me. Sirius…he-he died because of me. Because of that place.”

“That’s not true, Harry!” Hermione interrupted him, standing up as well. “Sirius died because of Bellatrix and we will bring him back. Or we will try to, at least.” She reassured him. “Now listen to this very carefully.” She turned back to her book and started reading.

_The Tempus Revocatas Ritual_

_It is an ancient spell used by those who wish to travel back in time. Its counter spell allows the individual to travel forward in time. This spell is almost as old as the wizarding world itself and has been long forgotten mainly because it is illegal to use in almost all parts of the world. The spell requires the use of a time portal and presently, only three of them are known to exist in the world. They are under the control of-_

  * _Magical Congress of the United States of America_
  * _Indian Ministry of Magic_
  * _British Ministry of Magic_



_Most people are motivated to travel back in time to change certain events to bring forth a different outcome but meddling with time can be dangerous ( See chapter 10 on Eloise Mintumble and the Un-born) and can have catastrophic outcomes. (See Xavier Rastrick’s infamous disappearance in chapter 13)._

_There are certain guidelines and rules one must keep in mind while time travelling to avoid harm to oneself and others-_

  * _Never disclose the fact that you are a time traveler unless strictly necessary. Unregistered time travel is illegal and it can lead to a lifelong sentence in the Azkaban._
  * _Do not meddle with your past self._
  * _Do not meddle with or cause changes in the actions of your ancestors. Even the smallest of the changes can lead to you never being born._
  * _Do not make many changes in general and simply act as an observer. (See Butterfly Effect)_
  * _Do not attempt murder or cause fatal harm to anyone. It might change their future and the future of those related to them in a drastic manner._
  * _Time moves at different speeds in the present world and in the past world for the time traveler._



Hermione stopped reading as the rest was just a complicated set of instructions on how to activate the spell. Harry was staring into the fireplace and the fire was being reflected on his glasses, hiding his eyes from view.

“You know we will be breaking about a thousand different laws by doing this, right?” Harry finally spoke up.

“Not we.” Hermione corrected him. “You’re not going with me, Harry.”

“What?” Harry snapped sharply.

“Think about it, Harry. It’s highly dangerous and you lack any sort of knowledge about ancient runes. It’s just not plausible-”

“He is _my_ godfather, Hermione.” Harry almost growled at her, “Plus, I can’t let you risk your life for me like that. Not again.” Right on cue, Hermione winced as pain shot up her ribs where Dolohov’s curse had hit her and Harry gave her a knowing glance.

“Oh get over yourself, Harry! Everyone followed you out of their own wills, you never forced anyone. I _want_ to help you. Please.” She held his gaze. “Let me.”

“No.” Harry shook his head. “It’s either both of us or nothing.”

“Fine.” Hermione said coolly after a moment as she got up and stuffed the book back in her bag. “Come on, then.”

“Now?” Harry gawked at her.

“When else? It’s our last day at Hogwarts. We can’t use magic after this.” Hermione reminded him, already stepping out of the portrait hole. Harry scrambled up and grabbed his invisibility cloak and followed Hermione out, draping it over both of them as he caught sight of Mrs. Norris. Her piercing yellow eyes stared at the spot where they had just vanished before she scuttled off, no doubt to warn her master.

“Let’s get out of here.” Harry muttered, ignoring the grumbling of the Fat Lady behind him. With another person in the cloak, it was a tight fit but they managed. They climbed down the stairs and past snoring portraits and Harry was about to head towards the entrance gate but Hermione took his sleeve and tugged him towards the complete opposite direction.

“Where are we going?” He asked her but she simply kept walking, occasionally asking him to keep his voice down. Finally, they reached their destination and Harry raised an eyebrow when he saw where they were.

“McGonagall’s office? Really?” He asked her, wondering if she had gone mad.

“It’s a better alternative than freezing your-your _behind_ off on a thestral’s back!” She countered back. Another reason was that she detested flying and preferred other methods of travelling like the floo or a portkey.

“So…we’re going to break into McGonagall’s office-”

“ _Professor_ McGonagall Harry, show some respect!”

“We are breaking into her office!” Harry pointed out. “Is that how _you_ show respect to teachers?”

“Oh shut up.” Hermione snapped at him even as her cheeks turned pink. “We have no other option.” With that, she slipped from under the invisibility cloak and tapped the doorknob once. Harry heard a click and the door swung open. Despite her display of confidence, Hermione’s stomach was twisting into a knot. The office was impeccably clean and organized and a portrait was dozing off behind Professor McGonagall’s desk. An assortment of writing quills were set on the table along with a bottle of colour changing ink.

Harry noticed a framed photograph on the table and out of curiosity, picked it up.

“Harry! What are you doing? Put that back.” Hermione immediately admonished him but Harry turned the photograph around, his eyes wide. It was a wedding photograph of a young, dark haired woman along with a tall, well dressed man with a formidable mustache.

“Its-its professor McGonagall…” Hermione whispered, “I never knew she was married! She can’t be-she writes ‘Miss’ instead of ‘Mrs.’.”

“Maybe he-her husband died.” Harry pointed out and Hermione pursed her lips. “Wow.”

“I know.” Hermione mused before taking the photograph and setting it neatly back in its place. “We must go, Harry. We are wasting time.”

Harry walked over to the fireplace and reached over to grab some floo powder from the box on the mantelpiece. “Wouldn’t the floo network be sealed off for the night at the Ministry?”

“It will be,” Hermione nodded, “Except for one- the guard’s fireplace. It is used by the night guards for changes in shift and also in cases of emergencies.”

“Right.” Harry nodded, not even bothering to ask Hermione how she knew this. She knew _everything_. “Hey, Hermione?”

“Yes?” She turned to face him.

“Thank you.” Harry muttered. “You gave me something I never thought I would have again.”

“Oh Harry…” Hermione said quietly. “I haven’t given you anything yet.”

“Yes you have.” Harry smiled at her. “You gave me hope.”

OoOoOoOo

The plan had been simple. They had arrived at the Ministry of Magic through the floo network, concealed under Harry’s invisibility cloak. Despite being invisible, they had not been able to conceal the green flare that signaled their arrival and Hermione had quickly confounded the alerted guard, who had retreated back to his table after shaking his head. The invisibility cloak proved to be massively useful as they were able to slip past a few sleepy guards at the atrium and finally reached the lifts. Her hands shook due to nervousness as a cool female voice announced: “Level nine, Department of Mysteries.”

“Honestly, the security in this place is in shambles! V-Voldemort can break into this place with his army of death eaters and overthrow the ministry all in one night for all they care!” Hermione grumbled as they stepped out of the lift and shut the golden grills behind them.

“He technically has broken in once.” Harry shrugged. “So have five teenage students.”

“The British Ministry of Magic, ladies and gentlemen.” Hermione said scathingly. “Which one?” Hemione asked as they stepped into the circular room and Harry pulled open a random door even as a strong wave of déjà vu hit him.

On and on they went with Harry opening random doors and Hermione marking them. They went through the Love Chamber, The Brain Room, The Space Room and a room which extended into nothingness. There was a circular pit in the center of the room and Hermione fished out a knut from her bag and dropped it in. They heard long and hard but never heard the sound of it hitting the bottom. She tried summoning it back but it was as if the coin had all but vanished.

They came across the veil during their hunt for its twin and it appeared even more formidable than it had the first time around. The archway was made up of a solid black substance- possibly stone- and in the dim lighting; Hermione simply couldn’t decipher what material it was for sure. And she wasn’t foolish enough to touch it and find out.

_But foolish enough to step through another, it seems._

“Let’s not linger here.” Hermione touched Harry’s shoulder when she saw that he was looking at the veil with a clenched jaw. _“Flagrate_!” She called out; marking that door along with numerous others she had come across. Just as it closed shut, the room began spinning wildly once more.

“This better be the one…” She muttered under her breath as she reached for another door. “Aha!” She cried out and immediately, Harry clamped a hand over her mouth. “Shh!”

“Sorry,” she replied sheepishly as they stepped into The Time Room. “It should be around here…”

Hermione scanned the room and eyed the cabinet where time turners once used to be stored. She was about to turn to Harry for assistance when a small, black door caught her attention. Intrigued, she had made her way to it. As expected, it was locked.

“ _Alohamora!_ ” Harry  tried, not really expecting such a simple spell to work. When the door didn’t budge, Hermione closed her eyes and focused for a minute before using another spell, usually taught at the N.E.W.T level.

 _“Novis Colloportus!”_ She whispered under her breath and her heart started hammering in her chest when she heard a faint click. _This is the time room, after all. It would make sense if…if…_

“Oh my God.” She whispered, her brown eyes widening in surprise as she stepped inside. _It’s true, it’s all true! It exists!_

Hermione took a deep breath as she admired the second archway. Unlike the crumbling stone archway in the Death Chamber, this one was an epitome of beauty. The tip of the archway reached at least fifteen feet and it was made of a smooth, cream-white material. Instead of a tattered veil, the center of the archway was giving off a pale blue glow. The blue material was neither liquid nor gas but something in between and seemed to be giving off a rippling effect. Hermione dropped the invisibility cloak and warily made her way towards the archway, being oddly drawn to it.

Clutching her shoulder back tightly in her hand, she came to a halt right in front of the archway and noticed that the smooth white pillars were engraved with writing.

“Tempus et spatium transcendere vires amor.” She read out loud, not quite knowing what it meant. It was in Latin. She knew that ‘Tempus’ meant time and ‘Amor’ meant love but that’s where her knowledge ended. She was about to unzip her bag when a slight movement caught her attention. Her head shot up as the blue glow brightened and Hermione stumbled back a step when she caught sight of herself in the rippling surface of the archway. The effect was similar to that of a pensieve. She peered at the image presented by the archway closely and saw that she was quite a bit younger than she was now in the image.

Intrigued, she leaned forward and the image became clearer. “Hermione, be careful!” Harry warned her from behind but she waved him off impatiently. The image finally moved and she saw an eight year old Hermione with extremely bushy hair and large front teeth was sitting on a swing set in the playground behind her house. Her parents were probably out working and Hermione remembered that they always used to come home just around dinner time. She noticed that former self had a huge book propped up in her lap and she was already halfway through it. At a distance, other children were playing a game of hide and seek and it was painfully obvious that none of them had bothered to invite her to play along with them.

After a while, a fight broke out between two of the children and one of them stormed off, leaving the others a player short. After much debate, one of them made his way over to Hermione as the others watched from a distance, not quite happy about their decision.

“Uh…Hermione?” A boy approached Hermione warily.

“Yes, John?” Hermione glanced up from her book, surprised.

“We’re a player short,” the dark haired boy told her, “Would you like to-”

“Yes! Of course! Let me just finish this last chapter real quick-” Young Hermione gestured to her book excitedly but she was cut off due to a commotion from the others kids.

“Oh hey, never mind. Ashley is back!” And without another word, John ran back to join his play mates, leaving a confused and disappointed Hermione behind.

The vision dissolved away and the blue glow dimmed down significantly. Hermione blinked back tears as the memory faded away. Ever since she had been a child, she had been different. She preferred books and knowledge over Barbie dolls and fairy tales. This had led to a fair amount of social seclusion and at times, Hermione had felt extremely lonely during her childhood.

“Was that a memory?” Harry asked her gently, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“Yes. Of when I was eight.” Hermione answered, swiping a hand beneath her eye. “This thing is like a huge pensieve.”

“That’s what I was thinking.” Harry agreed, reaching forward with his hand to touch the rippling surface.

“No, don’t touch it!” Hermione warned him. “I read that it might suck you in and you might end up anywhere in time. It can be ten years into the past or even a hundred. You also might get caught up into a time storm-”

“Alright, alright.” Harry backed off. “We are running out of time.” He checked his watch, “What next?”

“Now, I get to work.” Hermione gave him a wry smile and emptied the contents of her bag on the floor.

OoOoOoOo

 

Everything was in place. Hermione placed the runes engraved stones all around the twin veil at precise measurements. Preciseness was a very important part of getting this ancient spell right. She had stayed up all night, poring over various books and measurements scales to get everything just right. She was pretty confident about her knowledge regarding runes but she double checked each and every single one of them from her copy of _Study of Ancient Runes._

“What are these runes for?” Harry asked her, nodding towards her precise placement of stones.

“They determine precisely which year, month, week or even day one wants to go to. I have made some calculations and we will land a couple of weeks back into The Department of Mysteries, a few minutes before Sirius’ death.”

Harry nodded. Hermione had explained the plan to him and it was a very simple one. They would land a few weeks back in time and their first goal would be to conceal themselves. That’s where Harry’s invisibility cloak would come handy. Running into their past selves would have a disastrous consequence. Next, they would have to wait for the right moment and Hermione had taken it upon herself to deflect Bellatrix’s curse which sent Sirius through the veil. Deflecting the curse would mean Sirius would live and according to Hermione, the future would change when they would step back through the archway and Sirius would be a part of it.

“Wait, would that mean that the others would forget this-this timeline along with all memories of it?”

“That’s right. According to theory, the timeline would change and will be overwritten with new memories including Sirius.” Hermione responded immediately.

“And only the two of us would know what actually happened?” Harry asked.

“I…yes.”

“Great. Let’s do this.” Harry’s heart was hammering in his chest and his nerves were on the edge at the prospect of seeing Sirius again.

“Wait, Harry. Wear this.” To his utter surprise, Hermione procured a pair of identical golden lockets from her bag and held one out for him.

“But that’s a time turner! I thought…?” He trailed off as he slipped it around his neck.

“Ginny managed to snag a couple the first time we visited The Department of Mysteries before they were destroyed.” Hermione informed him. “I got her to let me borrow them for a while.”

“Wow. Ginny.” He chuckled. “What are these for?”

“Time turners have a special ability to measure shifts in time. Suppose a person is wearing a time turner when someone else changes the future, he or she will be able to feel the change.”

“And I need this why…?”

“Just in case.” Was all Hermione said. “Take this as well, just in case we get separated and need to communicate.”

“You plan has too many “Just in cases” for my liking.” Harry muttered under his breath as he took the charmed galleon from Hermione and placed it in his pocket. It was the same one she had used during Umbridge’s reign in Hogwarts. It was charmed with the Protean charm and worked in a somewhat similar manner to that of a death eater’s dark mark.

“Taking precautions never harmed anyone.” Hermione sniffed as she finally turned to face the archway and raised her wand. If all their measurements were correct and if Hermione got the spell right, they would have Sirius back in just a few short minutes. She knew she was making a huge gamble and was putting her life in severe risk by doing this but…

She hesitated slightly, lowering her wand. Was it worth it?

She turned back to look at Harry who was rocking in his place due to nerves and had such a hopeful expression on his face that it only strengthened Hermione’s resolve. She had to try, at least, if nothing else. Harry was like a brother to her and he didn’t deserve to lead an existence full of misery and pain.

One by one, she activated all seven of the runes by muttering a string of spells under her breath and they started giving off a blue glow, matching the one coming off the archway.

“ _Tempus!_ ” Hermione cried out, flourishing her wand, copying a series of complicated wand movements depicted in the drawing of _Time Meddlers_ , “ _Revocatas!_ ”

She was almost thrown back when a strong blast of light emerged from the tip of her wand and hit the luminous, swirling, blue surface of the archway. The torches placed in sockets along the walls flared up and Hermione took a deep breath and made an effort to stay grounded.

“I am going through!” Hermione called out to Harry. _I am sorry…I am so sorry…_

She whipped around just as Harry started following her and hit him with a mild body lock spell. The betrayal in his green eyes as he fell to the ground was almost too much for Hermione.  “Harry, I am sorry!” She cried out. “I can’t let you risk your life. I need to do this alone. Please.”

Harry lay motionless on the floor but his eyes were unforgiving.

“Don’t worry; I did not use _Petrificus Totalus_. It’s a milder version and you will be able to move in about ten minutes. Do not attempt to follow me since you don’t know the spell and the current one will wear off the moment I step through. I will be back Harry,” Hermione knew she was running out of time and needed to step through immediately.  “I will be back with Sirius. I-I will contact you from the other side once I get through.” _If I get through…_

With that, she turned around and stepped through the archway. The rippling surface was like a cool sheet of water but it didn’t wet her. As soon as she was completely through, she started spinning. She held on to her bag tightly so that she wouldn’t lose it and faintly realized that the sensation was similar to that experienced while travelling by a portkey. The spinning, in this case seemed to go on for ages and when it finally stopped, Hermione felt like she was going to throw up. She hit the cold, hard ground hard and it knocked the breath out of her.

After a few moments, she forced herself to lie on her back and blinked her eyes open. Her ears were still ringing. _I am definitely outside,_ She thought as she noticed the night sky above her. The earth beneath her was slightly damp, probably due to rain and an owl hooted nearby. _And this is definitely not Ministry of Magic,_ she thought, beginning to panic.

Hermione forced herself into a seating position and glanced at her surroundings. _Where is everyone? Where am I?_

She could see a couple of houses at a distance and immediately recognized her surroundings. She was on the outskirts of hogsmeade village. At a distance, she could make out the outline of The Shrieking Shack…but something was a bit off about the whole scene. The houses and shops were painted a different colour and the Whomping Willow wasn’t as big as she remembered it to be. Hermione decided to walk over to the nearest news stand and take a look at today’s newspaper to decipher the date. Swallowing nervously, she hauled herself up with some difficultly and walked over to the news stand. Due to the late hour, it was closed but she fished out a copy of _The Daily Prophet_ from a dustbin nearby.

_18 th October, 1976_

“What?” she squeaked, hardly daring to believe her eyes. “Nineteen seventy six?”

The newspaper slipped from between her numb fingers and landed in a crumpled heap on the ground.

_This can’t be…this can’t be…my calculations…_

_Were clearly wrong,_ Another part of her supplied.

Before Hermione could even fully comprehend what was even happening, she heard a low growl behind her. She whipped around and raised her wand even as her hand shook. From between the bushes, a large shape emerged. The wolf’s fur was sandy brown in colour and it-he- had crazed, dark eyes which seemed to be pitch black in the dark.

“R-Remus?” Hermione’s voice quivered as she immediately recognized Remus Lupin in his werewolf form. The wolf acknowledged her voice by baring his sharp canines to her. Foam dripped out of his mouth as he scrunched up his muzzle and stood up on his hind legs, making Hermione scream in terror. It howled to the full moon, the tone sharp and piercing before he advanced towards Hermione with the sole purpose of ending her life. “Remus, no! I don’t want to hurt you!” She cried out even as she raised her wand to protect herself.

“Damn it, Peter! You had one job!” A second voice came from behind the wolf, momentarily distracting him. There was some shuffling and three figures broke through the bushes.  One of them was of short stature and was doubled over as he panted and clutched his abdomen, seemingly out of breath.

The other boy was much taller and had a mop of messy black hair which reminded her of Harry. Shockingly, he wore the same rounded spectacles as her friend and bore a striking resemblance to him except for the eyes, which were hazel in colour.

And the third boy was the tallest-and the most handsome, Hermione couldn’t help but notice- of them all. He had wavy black hair and striking slate grey eyes, which were wide with shock. He had his wand raised and there was something awfully familiar about him…about all of them…

“Get back!” He yelled at Hermione, breaking the spell as Remus lunged at her. Her scream was drowned out by another growling sound as the grey eyed boy leapt up into the air and when he landed on the ground, a snarling, black dog had taken his place.

* * *

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the slightly late update. I went on this trip and then I got sick...blah blah. Long story.
> 
> Thank you so much for all the kudos! I just wish people would review in consistency to their kudos because who doesn't love feedack? Thank you for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione seeks help from someone familiar.

"Get back!" He yelled at Hermione, breaking the spell as Remus lunged at her. Her scream was drowned out by another growling sound as the grey eyed boy leapt up into the air and when he landed back on the ground, a snarling black dog had taken his place. He got in between Hermione and the werewolf, blocking his advances.

 _Oh my God…_ Hermione's sharp brain put two and two together quickly. _It's Sirius!_

"What are you doing?" Hermione's thought process was interrupted as the spectacled boy ran over to her and took her arm, hauling her up. Hermione scrambled to her feet and unsteadily, pointed her wand at Remus' wolf form, which was engaged in a fight with Sirius' animagus form. The bespectacled boy pulled her behind him, "Get behind me! No-" he lowered Hermione's wand arm forcefully, shaking his head at her frantically. "You can't hurt him, he's-"

"I-I wasn't going to. Don't worry." Hermione interjected quickly. "He is your friend, I know." _James Potter…_ Hermione thought weakly. _Peter Pettigrew…_ Her eyes flashed as her gaze landed on Peter's chubby form. He was a short, overweight boy with mousy brown hair and protruding front teeth and he was cowering at a distance, leaving his friends alone to deal with Remus, who was steadily growing more and more violent by the second.

James cast her a long, calculating glance but his attention wavered from her as Remus managed to throw Sirius off him, snapping his powerful jaw sharply. The black dog landed near their feet with a sickening thud and let out a low whine. The werewolf-even angrier than before- let out a low howl which made a shiver run down Hermione's spine. With foam dripping down his muzzle, he landed back on all fours and made a swipe at Peter. Immediately, Peter transformed into a rat and before Hermione could even blink, he scurried away, vanishing into the grass with a little squeak.

James cursed under his breath as he glanced back at Hermione once before transforming into his own animagus form. Hermione watched with wide eyes as James' body reshaped. Antlers sprouted from his head and his face became long and narrow. In a few moments, a fully fledged stag was standing in front of her. He kicked the dirt with his hooves before charging at Remus, pushing him back with his anthers. It seemed to be working as the werewolf took a couple of steps back even as he snapped at James. Undeterred, James kept pushing him back and Hermione realized he was nudging him in the direction of the shrieking shack.

 _Run!_ Her mind supplied and Hermione took a few shaky steps back but a low whine caught her attention. Sirius, who was still in his animagus form, was trying to get back on his feet in order to assist James. For once in her life, Hermione felt helpless. Warily, she crouched down beside Sirius, impatiently pushing a stray stand of her bushy brown hair behind her ear.

"You're hurt," she whispered even as Sirius got back on his feet and gave a little shake, dispelling dirt from his shiny black fur. Hermione met his gaze and was momentarily startled to see how focused his grey eyes were. They reflected intelligence which was typically not found in animals. She swallowed nervously as she extended a hand uncertainly towards Sirius, who had frozen in his place as he watched her rather warily.

Hermione inhaled sharply as her fingers came into contact with his fur, which was inexplicably soft to touch. He tilted his head to one side, watching her with a thousand questions in his eyes. Finally, he responded to her touch and nuzzled his head against her palm before nudging her back. He let out a quick bark before repeating the action, pushing her against her torso with his head.

Hermione understood what Sirius wanted her to do and got back on her feet, still clutching her wand tightly in her hand. She backed away towards the village and after one last glance at the marauders, she started sprinting. As the snarling and snapping faded away as she acquired more distance between herself and the marauders, a plan started forming in Hermione's mind. There was only one person she could go to help for and for that, she needed to break into Hogwarts undetected.

It took Hermione a little more than a few minutes to locate Honeydukes. While the buildings were all in the same location, all the familiar landmarks she was used to in the present time were nowhere to be found. A simple unlocking charm opened the door to Honeydukes for her and she slipped inside after casting a surreptitious glance around her. There was a secret passage in the sweet shop which led back to Hogwarts and while she had never used it herself, she had more than enough to go on from what Harry had told her.

Hermione quickly located a trapdoor on the floor and descended down the eroded stairs into a dark passageway. A coughing fit enveloped her as she finally landed on the uneven dirt floor of the tunnel, raising some dust from the ground as she did so. " _Lumos!_ " She whispered and the tip of her wand lit up. Thankfully, the tunnel in which she had landed led straight to Hogwarts and all she had to do was walk straight for about half a mile.

Hermione stumbled and fell a couple of times even with the assistance of her lit wand and by the time she managed to reach the statue of the One-Eyed Witch, she was covered in dirt and the heels of her palms were scraped. After muttering the necessary password under her breath in case anyone was passing by in the corridor, Hermione managed to squeeze through the small opening between the wall and the statue and landed in the middle of the deserted corridor.

"You tryin' to kill us with the light, missy?" One of the portraits on Hermione's right complained, making her jump. She hastily extinguished her wand as the other portraits started grumbling as well and leaned her back against the wall in an attempt to catch her breath. How had she managed to land herself in such a mess? She couldn't _believe_ herself.

 _That's what you get for meddling with ancient, dangerous and not to mention, illegal spells!_ Her mind supplied unhelpfully. Hermione was close to tears and she placed a quivering hand against her lips to stifle her sobs. This was not the time to panic. She had to think rationally to get out of this situation and return back to the present, back to Harry who was probably cursing her very existence right at this moment for leaving him behind. A part of her was very glad that Harry was not here with her even if she felt completely and utterly alone. Had Harry come in contact with his father, the results would have been disastrous since Harry was practically James Potter's carbon copy except for the eyes.

She couldn't help but hope that the marauders were not hurt because of her. Her mere presence on that scene was enough to trigger a change. What if one of them had gotten hurt while trying to protect her? The results would be catastrophic for the future if that happened. She had read about a whole family line vanishing into thin air because someone had gone back and meddled with time, which caused them to be never being born in the first place.

There was only one person she could trust with everything and she needed to see him immediately. With a deep breath, Hermione re-lit her wand once more, ignoring the complaints from the portraits surrounding her and made her way to the familiar destination.

OoOoOoOo

Hermione found herself nervously fidgeting in front of Albus Dumbledore's office at about three in the morning. She had correctly guessed the password to be "Lemon Drops" at her third try. _Some things never change,_ she thought with a wry smile as she raised a hand to knock on the headmaster's door. Strangely, the door was already open and Hermione stepped in, glancing around as she did so. The headmaster's seat was vacant and the room looked a bit different from what Hermione remembered but not majorly so.

The portraits of all the previous headmasters Hogwarts has had were in place as she remembered and were slumbering against their frames. Various instruments were still perched over small stools at various positions in the room but they were not as many in number as in the present time. Hermione walked over to the stand where Fawkes the phoenix was usually perched upon but that spot was vacant as well. A glow alerted Hermione's peripheral vision and she turned around and came face to face with a pensieve. The cabinet in which it was stored was open and the shimmering liquid in the pensieve was casting ethereal patterns on the ceiling above. Hermione took a couple of hesitant steps towards the pensieve and noticed that a couple of memories were already swirling at the depth of the large bowl.

Hermione knew better than to lean forward or touch the shimmering liquid but as she continued to gaze down at the silvery memories, they began taking shape. She got brief flashes of a young girl with flowing blonde hair and a couple of boys who had their wand raised against each other as the girl watched in distress.

"Ah, memories. How we cling to them in order to hold them close to us." Hermione gasped and turned around, coming face to face with the Headmaster himself. "But sometimes, we wish for the gift of forgetfulness when the burden gets too much."

Albus Dumbledore was dressed as if he was heading out and showed no indication that he had been asleep. He was adorned in handsome midnight blue robes with a matching, pointed cap. His face had fewer wrinkles but he still wore his half moon spectacles. Before Hermione could even think of responding, Fawkes majestically swooped in through the open window and circled the room twice, appearing like a streak of flame in the darkness. Much to Hermione's surprise, instead of settling down on his own stand, he chose to fly over to her and landed on her shoulder.

"I…um…" Hermione stuttered as she raised a hand to stroke Fawkes' feathers.

"He trusts you." Dumbledore's voice sounded amused. "Tell me one thing, how did you manage to guess the password? Whenever there is a breach in security, I am immediately informed. You didn't get the password right the first time." He mused, peering at her over his half moon spectacles. His piercing blue gaze gave Hermione the impression that he was looking right through her.

"Professor, I am really sorry to bother you at such an atrocious hour but I need your help." Hermione began carefully, walking over to Fawkes' stand and gently letting him down. "What I am about to tell you will sound absurd and ridiculous to say the least but it's all true."

"I am always up for a little late- night intrigue." Dumbledore replied easily, his blue eyes twinkling with curiosity. "You're not from Hogwarts." It wasn't a question but was posed as a simple statement.

"No. Well, technically I am but…" Hermione cringed, "Not in nineteen seventy six."

Her words were met with a profound silence. Finally, the headmaster went over to his desk and sank down into his throne like chair, gesturing to Hermione to do the same. "Take a seat, Miss…?"

"Granger, Sir. Hermione Granger."

"Miss Granger," Dumbledore began after she had sat down opposite him, "Forward or backward?"

"I-I am sorry?"

"Did you travel forward in time or backward? If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say you're from the future, judging by your attire." He nodded towards her jacket and the backpack she was carrying.

Hermione should have been surprised that he had caught on so quickly but then again, she had decided to come to him in the very first place for this very reason. Albus Dumbledore was an absolute and unrivalled-if slightly eccentric- genius.

"You're right, Professor. I am from nineteen ninety six." Hermione responded quietly, as if fearing an admonishment for meddling with time. However, Dumbledore's expression remained neutral even as his eyes danced with amusement.

"It's delightful to see how fashion changes with time!" Dumbledore remarked, chuckling to himself. "I rather like your jacket, Miss Granger."

"I… _Sir_ ," Hermione emphasized, feeling appalled as to why Dumbledore was taking it so slightly. "This is a dangerous situation and I need your help to get back to the present. My own timeline, I mean." She quickly added. For Dumbledore, this _was_ the present. "Please."

"And how do you exactly propose I help you, Miss Granger?" Dumbledore asked her as he formed a steeple out of his fingers and proceeded to observe her over them. "I am no time sorcerer. Time related magic, in fact, is illegal and would earn you a life-long trip to the Azkaban if discovered."

A shiver ran down Hermione's spine at his words but she decided to put on a brave face.

"I am quite aware, Sir and I'll assure you that it was not my intention to land this far back in time." She said through gritted teeth.

"Yet you _did_ meddle with time." Dumbledore pointed out. "Surely, you did not use a time-turner? It would not be-"

"Possible, yes." Hermione confirmed. A time-turner was capable of sending an individual only a few hours back in time and had its limits. "There are other means." She added almost in a whisper.

"Enlighten me, Miss Granger." Dumbledore prodded her.

Hermione remained silent. One of the first rules regarding time travel in Victomycus Grey's _Time Meddlers_ was that she was not to disclose the fact that she was a time traveler to anyone. She had already broken that rule within the first hour of landing back in time, having had no choice. Would it really be wise to give Dumbledore the details?

"I am assuming we know each other at some point or other in the future by the way you address me," Dumbledore began, breaking the silence. "And you came to me for a reason. Because you trusted me enough to share the fact that you had broken about a thousand different laws to travel back in time to accomplish a mission." Hermione turned a deep shade of pink at his words, feeling like a hypocrite. Since she could remember, she had gone about giving lectures to everyone about the importance of following rules and regulations properly and yet, here she was…

"I am not going to ask you the details of your mission, Miss Granger. I merely ask you to do what you've been doing till now." Dumbledore gave her a benevolent smile, "I ask to continue trusting me."

 _Oh, hell._ Hermione though, taking a deep breath to collect herself before launching into her story.

She skimmed through the details. She told Dumbledore that she was one of the students at Hogwarts in Hogwarts in the year nineteen ninety six and due to some personal reasons, she had decided to take a _brief_ leap in time, which had gone awry. Dumbeldore had not prodded her for details, for which she was grateful. She explained the mechanism of the Time Archway to the headmaster and how she had managed to activate it due to her knowledge about ancient runes. Dumbledore had appeared mildly impressed by her knowledge regarding runes and had asked her a couple of questions which she had managed to answer easily, thus validating her story further.

"Professor please," Hermione's nerves were frazzled by this point. "You have to help me get back to the time archway so I can go back to where I belong."

"Frankly, Miss Granger," Dumbledore began slowly, haltingly, "I've never personally heard of such an archway existing in the Department of Mysteries. Yes, the Ministry has been conducting experiments relating to time since a long time despite having officially stopped in the late nineteenth century but such a thing is unheard of."

"You can't know for sure!" Hermione argued. "I've seen it with my own eyes, Sir. How else would you explain someone from twenty years in the future landing back-"

"I never said you are lying, Miss Granger." Dumbledore cut her off. "I am merely questioning the existence of such an instrument in _this_ time period."

"Wait," Hermione slid the backpack off her shoulder and dug into it for a book. "I will show you." She slammed the beaten down copy of _Time Meddlers_ on the desk and started leafing through it, her eyes narrowed in concentration.

"Victomycus Grey?" Dumbledore's tone told her that he was acquainted with the author. "Why, that would be Mr. Grey from Slytherin. A pass out from last year," he added as Hermione's eyes grew wide.

"Brilliant lad, really, but not necessarily in all the right ways. He was elected as Slytherin's head boy by Professor Slughorn and if I remember correctly, he was aiming to apply for an Unspeakable in the Department of Ministries. That does explain a lot." He mused, nodding towards the book Hermione had opened on his table. "Ah, is Horace still the Head of Slytherin house in your time?" Dumbledore asked her rather jovially. Hermione shook her head, never having heard this name before and Dumbledore's expression dropped almost dramatically.

"Ah, I should take Horace's threats regarding an early retirement rather seriously, in that case…" He trailed off, speaking more to himself than to Hermione at this point.

"Professor, here!" Hermione jabbed her finger on the page which talked about the Time Archway at the Ministry. She cleared her throat and proceeded to read the passage out loud for the headmaster's benefit.

" _The Time Archway is almost a twin in stature to The Veil in the Death Chamber of the Department of Ministries. It holds the ability to send an individual back and forth in time but experimenters are rather wary with their approach due to the unstable nature of this time portal._

_The Archway was brought into the Ministry in the year nineteen seventy nine and has been under strict surveillance since…"_

Hermione stopped reading and continued to stare at the page, willing the words to change. Nineteen ninety nine? That was three years from now! If the information given in the book was to be believed, the Time Archway didn't even _exist_ in this year.

"So I thought." Dumbledore said gravely.

"I…I can't stay here, professor! I can't!" Hermione was beginning to panic at this point. How could she be so stupid to get herself thrown into such a situation? "I don't belong in this time. M-My friends, my family…" she gasped. Tears stared rolling down her cheeks and landed on the open page of the book. On impulse, she threw the book away from her with as much force as she could muster and it crashed against one of Dumbledore's tinkering instruments. Fawkes' fluttered his wings on his pedestal and let out a low sound of protest.

Dumbledore however, didn't react as Hermione tried to calm herself down. He merely sat in his chair with his face devoid of any expression. His blue eyes were hidden in the shadow, leaving Hermione clueless as to how he was feeling about her small temper tantrum.

"Professor, please. There has to be a way-" She gasped all of a sudden as she remembered something. She pulled out the time turner she was wearing around her neck. "Is there some way…?" she asked hopefully, holding out the time turner to the headmaster. He accepted it and proceeded to observe it from different angles, at one point even holding it under a huge magnifying glass that he kept on his table.

"Is it normal for students in your time to possess such a dangerous object?" Dumbledore asked her lightly.

"Well, no." Hermione responded hurriedly, "I mean, I was granted one in my third year at Hogwarts by the Ministry so I could incorporate extra classes into my schedule."

"Interesting." Dumbledore replied. "So you were already acquainted with time travel before your little stunt with the Time Archway in the Ministry."

"I…yes, sir." She could feel her cheeks burning once again.

"Then that also means you're well aware of all the rules and regulations surrounding an object like a time-turner, Miss Granger." He leaned forward, dropping the time-turner on the table.

"Yes but-but I can try, at least! It's very important for me to go back to my time, Professor. You have to understand."

"By all means, you can try. Of course you can." Dumbledore nodded. "Just bear the consequences in mind, Miss Granger. A time-turner is devised to send an individual back in time, that too just for a few hours, no more. I am not quite certain if a forward shift in time would even work. Let's create a hypothetical scenario and say that it does work…" Dumbledore's eyes weren't twinkling with amusement anymore but appeared rather grave. "You could end up catastrophically changing certain events, get lost in time or even die. Is it worth the risk, my dear?"

Dumbledore's tone and reasoning left no room for an argument. With a defeated sigh, Hermione slumped back into her chair, burying her face between her hands as a fresh wave of tears overtook her.

"While I cannot speak for the long term, I can certainly do a thing or two to make you feel better right now. Come along, my dear Miss Granger." Dumbledore urged her to get up and guided her out of his office and down the spiraling stairway. Everything was a blur to Hermione as tears kept streaming down her face and had it not been for Dumbledore's hand on her shoulder, she would be walking into walls.

The minutes she spent walking felt like hours to Hermione. She didn't even care as to where Dumbledore was taking her. All she wanted was to go home, where she belonged. She didn't have a place in this world, in this time. Everything was familiar yet at the same time, alien.

"Students out of bed! Students out of bed!" Argus Filch's voice made Hermione flinch. She noticed that he had a bit more hair on his head than he did in the present as he limped his way towards them.

"Ah, good morning Argus." Dumbledore greeted him politely, making him halt.

"Students out of-"

"Yes, I am quite aware, Argus. She is with me." Dumbledore peered down at Filch's stooping form, "Would you be kind enough to alert Poppy that her presence is required immediately?"

"I-yes, of course, Headmaster." Filch responded gruffly, casting Hermione a sour look before shuffling ahead of them.

"Madam Pomfrey…?" Hermione questioned but Dumbledore simply smiled down at her as he led her down to the Hospital Wing.

"Albus," Poppy Pomfrey was still in her nightgown as she greeted them at the doorway, looking worried. "What is it? Oh dear, what's wrong?" She rushed over to Hermione, noticing the tear tracks on her face.

"I believe a Calming Draught and a Dreamless Sleeping Potion are in order, Poppy." Dumbledore instructed from behind them as Madam Pomfrey ushered Hermione to one of the beds. It almost felt normal to Hermione, being back in the Hospital Wing. She had spent more than a couple of weeks in here recently after being cursed by Dolohov in the Department of Mysteries.

Hermione sank down on top of the clean bed and kicked her shoes off, bringing her knees up to her chest and encircling them with her arms. Professor Dumbledore had taken Madam Pomfrey aside and was explaining something to her in a hushed tone. All Hermione wanted to do was lie down and have a good sleep. Maybe it would all turn out to be a nightmare when she woke up.

"Dear-?" She looked up and saw a somewhat wary looking Madam Pomfrey holding a couple of glass vials. "Take these, you will feel better."

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey." Hermione almost bit her tongue as soon as she finished speaking. She wasn't supposed to let the medi-witch know that she was acquainted with her. Slips like these could lead to serious trouble.

"Are you from Hogwarts, dear?" Madam Pomfrey asked curiously as she downed the potions, "I swear I know all the students in your age group by name, reckless as they are. You however…"

"Ah, Poppy. Can I have some time alone with Miss Granger?" Hermione was saved from answering the difficult question by Dumbledore's intervention.

"Of course. I'll be in my office if you need me," She nodded at Dumbledore and after one last glance at Hermione, she left, shutting the door behind her.

"We will discuss our options in the morning, Miss Granger. For now, I'd advice you get a good night's sleep." Dumbledore advised her as he sat down on a chair near her bed.

The effect of the Calming Draught was already beginning to kick in and Hermione was feeling a lot less hysterical than before. "I'll try." She mumbled. "Not like there is much else I can do."

"Time is a dangerous thing to meddle with," Dumbledore said pensively, "And you come across as an extremely intelligent girl, Miss Granger. What prompted you to put yourself in such a situation?"

"Love, sir." Hermione answered almost automatically. It seemed like the Calming Draught was also lowering her guard as it proceeded to calm her system down. "There is someone back in my time who I love very much, like a brother, really." She explained. Even talking about Harry hurt. Oh, how she longed to see him again… "He was in a lot of pain and I-I had to make it right for him."

"I see," Dumbledore nodded as he finally seemed to understand Hermione's motives. "You never told me how you managed to guess the password to my office, however."

"Let's just say old habits die hard." Hermione replied with a slight smile and Dumbledore's eyes twinkled with merriment. "Ah, even after all those years, I didn't run out of candy names. Very intriguing, indeed. I wonder what Minerva would have to say about that." He chuckled.

"Sir, I have a question." Hermione fought against the drowsiness caused by the Dreamless Sleep Potion she had consumed along with the Calming Draught. "Will Remus be alright?"

This seemed to startle Dumbledore a bit. "I assume you are talking about Mr. Lupin?"

"Yes, Sir. I am well acquainted with him in my time. He is a dear friend. I-I ran into Remus tonight…" she lowered her voice, "After he had transitioned."

"Are you hurt-?"

"No, no." Hermione instantly shook her head. "I got away with some help." She bit her lower lip, contemplating whether she should tell Dumbledore that Remus Lupin's best friends were unregistered animagi. In the end, she decided against it, keeping their secret safe with her.

The headmaster was silent for a moment as he continued to gaze down at Hermione, never breaking eye contact with her. After a while, Hermione grew uncomfortable and looked away, stifling a yawn as she did so. Immediately, Dumbledore stood up.

"While it is extremely difficult for Mr. Lupin to undergo such harsh transitions every month at such a tender age, I can assure you that he is in the very best hands." He nodded towards Madam Pomfrey's office. "I believe he will be alright come the morning."

"Thank you, sir. Goodnight."

After giving her a parting smile, Dumbledore turned around to leave but halted at the doorway, turning back halfway to face Hermione.

"He has three of his best friends running alongside him, after all." He added with a small wink before closing the door behind him, it being the last thing Hermione remembered before drifting off into a deep slumber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the comments and kudos! I do realize that waiting for updates can be really frustrating but my aim is to provide you with the best. I can only sit and write when I am in the right frame of mind with the right ideas buzzing in my mind. Hope you guys don't mind!...much.
> 
> I would LOVE some feedback on this chapter and I am eagerly waiting to see what you guys think. Do review and make me a happy person!
> 
> Until next time.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione has a chat with the marauders.

* * *

 

Hermione woke up the next morning, feeling considerably well rested and relaxed. She stretched on her bed and groaned as she tried to shield her eyes from the direct sunlight streaming in through the tall French windows of the Hospital Wing. Her first thought was that she was still recovering from Dolohov's curse and started drifting back to sleep beneath the warmth of her blanket…

With a jerk, she sat up straight as her brown eyes flew open. She looked around once and immediately knew that last night had been no dream. Well, not that she could dream in the first place due to the Dreamless Sleeping potion she had consumed on Madam Pomfrey's insistence. She remained in her bed for a while longer, simply watching minuscule particles of dust swirling around in a beam of sunlight as she tried to gather her thoughts.

And tried not to hyperventilate.

This was precisely why she was after everyone to follow the rules properly. Her situation couldn't possible get more ironic than this. _Well, hopefully._

With a plan starting to brim in her mind, she pushed off the bed and put her shoes on, stifling a yawn behind her hand as she did so. Her stomach was growling for food but breakfast would have to wait. She noticed for the first time that a mint green partition had been drawn on the left side of her bed, which hadn't been there the previous night. She shrugged and was about to move on when she heard a muted groan from the other side of the partition. Her curiosity got the better of her and slowly, she made her way towards the partition, hand raised to part the curtain. She checked once over her shoulder to see if someone was watching her but the Hospital Wing was empty.

She parted the curtain and peeked in, her eyes coming to land on…

"Remus!" she gasped, hurrying inside the partition covered area. Even though she was gazing down upon a twenty year younger version of Remus Lupin, he was unmistakable. His features were more or less the same, lacking the wrinkles and grey hair which would become a part of his appearance over time. The boy lying on the bed beneath her had sandy brown hair and an unhealthy pallor. His skin appeared almost translucent and each and every scar on his body stood out, raw and red. The bad ones had probably been tended to by Madam Pomfrey and were wrapped under bandages which adorned both his arms and his legs. Hermione could count each and every rib on the boy's scrawny chest as the bones jutted out against his skin. His eyes were screwed shut tightly and he had a pained expression on his face.

"Oh Remus…" Hermione whispered, automatically sinking down on a stool beside his hospital bed. She took his dry and calloused palm into her own, squeezing it lightly as she gazed upon the abnormally thin and weak boy, who lay unconscious on the hospital bed. She had read all she could about werewolves in their third year and knew everything about them. Their usual diet, their normal height and weight, the mechanism behind their transformations every full moon, the differences in their fur colour.

But actually seeing what it did to a person with her own eyes, that too someone she considered to be a dear friend…

She dabbed at her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt as Remus groaned and stirred on his bed but didn't wake up. Despite Madam Pomfrey's care, one of his deeper cuts was starting to bleed again. Determined to help him, Hermione took out her wand and placed the tip along the bleeding gash, murmuring a string of healing spells under her breath. Soon, the skin around his wounds began giving a faint blue glow and the bleeding stopped. However, the scar remained much to her surprise.

 _Scars caused from a werewolf bite or scratches are deeper than a normal wound._ She remembered a passage from her third year studies. _In most cases, they don't fade over time unless attended to immediately._

Hermione was pretty sure that essence of Dittany would do wonders on Remus' scars but to which extent, she was unsure of. She stood up and smoothed his hair over his forehead and to her surprise, his pained expression dulled somewhat, morphing into a more peaceful one.

"You." Hermione whipped around, instantly taking her hand off Remus' forehead.

"You're the girl from last night!"

Hermione had been so caught up in her own thoughts that she hadn't realized that the marauders might show up sometime soon to check up on their best friend. And indeed, three highly suspicious faces were staring at her as she tried to come up with an excuse. It was still nerve wracking to be so close to Harry's father and a younger version of Sirius. On top of that, add a fidgeting Peter Pettigrew and a panic attack was waiting for Hermione.

Hermione realized that Sirius had been the one to speak. Now that she saw them in broad day light, there was no mistaking that indeed, they were the famed marauders. Sirius Black stood beside his best friend James with Peter Pettigrew standing a couple of steps behind them.

Sirius was the tallest among the three and towered over Hermione as he took a step towards her, his stark grey eyes narrowing down considerably. Had it been any other scenario, Hermione would have never recognized him. He was nothing like the Sirius Black she was used to. The person she had saved from imminent death in her third year had a sickly pallor and hollowed cheeks. He had rough shoulder length hair which sprang about in an unruly fashion around his head and was gaunt and lean as a skeleton.

This version of Sirius was the exact opposite.

Aside from the impressive height, he had a strong jaw line and the most piercing pure grey eyes, unadulterated by any other colour. Everything about him screamed aristocracy, from his high cheekbones to his wavy black hair which caught the sunlight in an enticing manner.

Her eyes flickered from him and came to rest on James, who was watching her rather warily. He was a couple of inches shorter than Sirius and wore a pair of glasses eerily similar to that of Harry's. He had keen hazel coloured eyes and a shock of messy black hair.

"Come on, we know you're neither deaf nor dumb. Your incessant screaming last night ruled that out." Sirius snapped at her, diverting her attention back to him. "Who are you?"

"I-I mean no harm," she clarified quickly, holding up her hands. "I am Hermione. Hermione…" she almost bit her tongue. She should have thought of an alias name. "Clearwater." She finished, choosing not to reveal her original surname.

Sirius opened his mouth to speak again but James placed a hand on his shoulder, halting him. He stepped forward, coming to stand beside Sirius. "Well, Hermione _Clearwater_ , how do you know our friend Remus?" James asked her, nodding towards Remus' bedridden form.

"I don't." Hermione supplied with as much conviction as she could. "I was just-"

"We saw you heal him." Peter Pettigrew pointed out from behind, his tone high and almost accusing.

"Oh forgive me for doing such a _horrible_ and _atrocious_ thing to your friend!" Hermione snapped, unable to keep her composure this time. She gave a satisfied huff when Peter shrank back at her sharp tone.

"Real smooth, Pete." Sirius muttered under his breath, snorting slightly.

"All my friend Peter meant was," James rolled his eyes, "that you somehow seem acquainted with Remus and we were just wondering how."

Hermione tried her level best to appear calm on the outside even as her mind raced a hundred miles an hour, trying to come up with an explanation. While she was usually quick to think up of one thing or another, three suspicious pair of eyes were putting her under considerable pressure.

"I repeat, I don't know him." She lied through her teeth. But was it indeed a lie? She knew an _older_ version of Remus, not this one. "I was here for some other matter, which _doesn't_ concern you-" She added as James opened his mouth to inquire. He crossed his arms across his chest, still not satisfied with her explanation. "-and that was when I heard his…groans of pain. I was merely helping him be more comfortable, that's all."

"Let's say we believe that for a minute," Sirius stepped forward and Hermione noticed a limp in his gait for the first time. It was probably an injury from the night before when Remus' werewolf form had managed to throw Sirius off him. "You still didn't explain who you were, _Hermione Clearwater_."

"I don't think I am answerable to any of you regarding my personal-"

"Yes you are!" Sirius cut her off, his grey eyes flashing down at her. "You know about Remus, that much is evident. And you've seen us in our animagus forms." He lowered his voice, glancing around him once. "Give us one good reason as to why we should simply let you walk away."

Hermione's mouth felt as dry as cotton and she felt ganged upon. The three of them, Peter included, were extremely protective over their friend Remus and while it warmed Hermione's heart to see how well he was being looked after, she mostly felt like a nervous mess as Sirius arched an eyebrow at her, waiting for her to speak. However, relief flooded her very veins as she caught sight of a familiar face behind the marauders. "I believe the reason is standing right behind you." She said, pointing to Professor Dumbledore.

"Dumbles." Sirius spoke up as he turned around, nodding a greeting to the old headmaster who merely looked amused. Hermione's eyes widened at the way Sirius addressed the headmaster but he didn't seem to mind…much.

"Mr. Black," Dumbledore stepped forward, smiling at them benevolently. "I see you're here to see Mr. Lupin along with Mr. Potter and Mr. Pettigrew," he glanced down at his pocket watch. "while you should be attending your Transfiguration class."

James shrugged without a hint of apology. "I am sure Professor McGonagall is breathing a sigh of relief, sir."

"Naw, Minny loves me." Sirius pitched in, grinning.

Hermione actually blanched at that when she finally got who _Minny_ was. She nearly gave Sirius a lecture on how to properly address a teacher but snapped her mouth shut when she realized where she was.

"Careful, Mr. Black. You'll be serving year long detentions if Minerva heard that nickname." Dumbledore warned him, all in good humour. Hermione simply watched the exchange with wide eyes. _Oh Sirius…_

"Ah, Mr. Lupin is recovering rather nicely." Dumbledore stepped forward, glancing down at Remus from behind his half moon spectacles. "I believe he won't be requiring a trip to St. Mungo's this time around."

Hermione blinked and looked back at Remus, her eyes going to his skeletal chest as it rose and fell rather irregularly. Remus had to be taken to St. Mungo's last time? The thought made her heart clench rather painfully. She wanted to reach out and smooth his sandy-brown hair over his forehead but something told her it wouldn't be a good idea.

"Professor, this girl-" Sirius began, pointing to Hermione. Her eyes flitted up to look at him, fixing him with a glare, which he returned.

"Ah, I see you've met our guest." Dumbledore interjected politely, gesturing to Hermione. "This is Miss Hermione-"

"Clearwater. Yes, I've told them that much, Sir." Hermione cut him off quickly. Dumbledore gave her a glance and seemed to catch on quickly as he continued.

"Miss Clearwater is a transfer student from Beauxbatons and will be joining us soon."

"I will?" Hermione swallowed.

"Of course, Miss Clearwater. I've handed in your transfer application already." Dumbledore smiled down at her even as his blue eyes cautioned her. _Play along._

"What?" Sirius snorted. "She doesn't sound French."

"That's because I am not French, Mister…" Hermione made a great show of fishing for his name.

"Sirius Black." He offered grudgingly.

"Right, Mr. Black. I was born and brought up in England but my parents moved to France with me when I was seven and hence I was enrolled into Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, _merci beaucoup_."

This answer seemed to satisfy Sirius, who simply huffed.

"Welcome to Hogwarts…?" James gave her a slight smile, which Hermione returned willingly, wondering for the second time over how much Harry looked like his father.

"What brought you back to England?" He asked her curiously.

"My…" Hermione hesitated for a moment, "Parents don't exist anymore." Technically speaking, it wasn't a lie. While they were alive somewhere, they weren't her parents, not yet. "Hence I decided to move back to my ancestral home in England."

"I am sorry." James said after a while and even Sirius and Peter looked away uncomfortably, mumbling condolences of their own. Hermione simply nodded, already feeling guilty for all the lies she was being forced to spin.

"Hence, Miss Clearwater will be joining us and I will be making accommodations for her here at Hogwarts till her ancestral home gets renovated." Dumbledore beamed down at them, catching up with Hermione's story easily.

"She knows about Remus." Peter, who had been mostly silent, burst out suddenly. Hermione's eyes narrowed down at him on their own accord. _Traitor. Betrayer. Coward._ Her mind supplied as she felt true hatred bubble at the pit of her stomach for this nervous, mousy boy. In a few years, he would betray Lily and James, hence causing their demise, which would leave their infant parentless with the weight of a prophecy on his head.

"I can assure you that Miss Clearwater would be able to keep his secret safe with her, just like you three." Dumbledore answered impassively. "Won't you?"

"Of course." Hermione nodded vigorously. "I have no reason to betray him, or any of you."

"You also have no reason _not_ to betray him either." Sirius shot back.

"Come on, Pads, give the poor girl a chance." James groaned.

"For your kind information Mr. Sirius Black, I am nothing like those-those other girls whose life aim is to gossip and spread rumours!" She replied back hotly, getting fed up with his attitude towards her.

"Oh?" He stepped closer to her, his storm grey eyes boring down into hers. "What kind of a girl are you then, Clearwater?"

"I guess you will have to wait and find out for yourself." She refused to back down and stared right back at him defiantly. The tension in the room was so thick that it could be sliced through with a knife.

"Padfoot!" James was finally successful in getting his friend's attention. "Come on, mate."

"What in the name of Godric is going on in here? Out! Out everyone!" Madam Pomfrey's presence interrupted their conversation as she ushered everyone out and closed the curtains shut behind Remus, who was beginning to groan in his sleep once more. Sirius tried to move past Madam Pomfrey as concern replaced suspicion in his eyes but the matron wasn't having it.

"There is a time for visitors, Mr. Black!" She shooed him away. "Albus, please. Remus needs to rest."

"Of course, of course." Dumbledore ushered everyone out of the room and with a wave of his wand, shut the hospital wing doors behind them. "I expect the three of you to resume your classes as soon as possible," he said, turning to address Sirius, James and Peter who nodded unenthusiastically. "And Miss Clearwater, I would like you join me in my office in about half an hour. I must take off now; I believe the new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher must be arriving any time now." And with that, Dumbledore turned around and walked away with surprising agility, given his age.

"Wanna bet how long this one would last?" James asked the other two.

"Nah, he or she will be gone by the time the year is over." Sirius shrugged one shoulder. Peter, who looked like he wanted to bet opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before choosing to remain quiet. The three of them turned around to face Hermione, each wearing a different expression.

"What?" Hermione asked, crossing her arms tightly across her chest. Their scrutiny was really beginning to bother her. "Are the three of you going to stare at me all day long? Because if so, I think I'd better go and spend my time in the library _by myself_."

"Did she just say library, Prongs?"

"I believe she did, Padfoot."

The two boys simultaneously shook their head in disappointment even as Hermione rolled her eyes. They were even worse than Ron and Harry.

"Hermione, I have one last question for you." Sirius spoke up even as James exchanged an exasperated look with Peter.

"I suppose you won't leave me alone till I answer it."

"Nope." He replied with an air of mock cheerfulness. "Well, what were you exactly doing near the Shrieking Shack at three in the morning?" Sirius asked, this time genuinely curious.

"Oh um…" Hermione hated how unprepared she was. "I was taking a walk." _Pathetic._

"Uh huh."

"Professor Dumbledore had made accommodations for me at the local inn and I couldn't sleep." She added hastily, trying to make her story sound more convincing. "So I thought taking a walk might help. That's when I heard a growling noise and…"

"And you decided to go investigate it on your own like you're Merlin reincarnated or something. Real brilliant, Hermione." Sirius snorted.

"Whatever! And its _Miss Clearwater_ to you." She added haughtily. "I promised you and Professor Dumbledore that I would keep all your secrets safe and I would do so, whether you believe me or not. Now, if you don't mind!" With that, she turned around and stalked away in the opposite direction, heading straight for the library. It seemed to be the only place she'd be able to find some peace and familiarity.

OoOoOoOo

Thankfully, the library had been relatively empty since most of the students were attending their classes. She chose her favourite seat in the corner, away from everyone and propped an old copy of _Hogwarts: A History_ in front of her. She had it memorized by heart at this point but there was no denying its familiarity and that's what comforted Hermione. After half an hour, she approached Dumbledore's office and knocked at his door, fidgeting nervously. She was forced to step back rather hastily as the door opened suddenly and a rather tall woman stepped out, shutting it behind her.

She was dressed smartly in an emerald green robe with a matching hat and carried a sleek black briefcase in a gloved hand. She was pale and her striking green eyes stood out against her complexion.

"Oh, did I startle you?" She asked Hermione but her question lacked any sort of concern and was more of an automatic response.

"A bit. It's not a…" Before Hermione could even finish the sentence, the woman brushed past her and went down the stairs of the spiraling staircase that led up to Dumbledore's office. "Problem." Hermione finished under her breath.

"Ah Miss Granger, come on in." He greeted her, turning away from the window. It was raining heavily and big, fat drops pattered against the window pane. Hermione stepped into Dumbledore's office and took a seat.

"I believe you just met your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Mrs. Melania Parkinson."

Hermione wondered if she was somehow related to Pansy Parkison, the girl who usually hung around Draco Malfoy. "She seemed a bit…"

"Cold? Uptight?" Dumbledore supplied and Hermione nodded uneasily. "Well, let's just say she is a devout Slytherin and leave it at that."

"That does explain a lot." Hermione muttered under her breath.

"It's getting harder and harder to get new Defense teachers each year." Dumbledore sighed, offering Hermione a bowl of candies. She accepted one and thanked him, figuring she could use a little sugar.

"Perhaps you should consider the offer for the post of Minister of Magic after all." Hermione supplied, not really meaning it. Dumbledore's blue eyes twinkled as he regarded her with interest.

"Perhaps." He chuckled, fishing inside a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavoured Beans. "Hmm, I wonder if this one…" He popped a brown bean into his mouth and made a face. "Ah, no." he sighed in disappointment. "Dirt flavor, I am afraid."

"Professor," Hermione began, "About my apparent transfer…"

"Ah yes, yes." Dumbledore nodded, fishing out a scroll from his desk's drawer. He passed it to Hermione, who opened it.

"You've been officially enrolled in Hogwarts. If I am right about your age-which I am- you should be eligible to start your sixth year."

Hermione glanced down at her letter of acceptance, reading it over once before she looked back at Dumbledore, her eyes reflecting her uncertainty. "But…"

"I think we went over this the night before, Miss Granger. You don't mind me addressing you by your real name when we are alone, do you?" Dumbledore leaned forward on his desk, crossing his fingers together as he gazed at her with his brilliant blue eyes.

"No, I don't." She shook her head. "But Professor, I can't stay here…"

"Would you rather I make different accommodations for you? You are a bright minded witch, Miss Granger, that much is evident. You will be here for at least another two to three years and I highly doubt you are one to sit around and miss out of your education."

 _Oh, he is good._ Hermione thought, sighing in defeat. He did have a point, however. This way, she would not feel like she is wasting her time and she would also have access to the Hogwarts library for her research work. Plus, having an extremely skilled and experienced wizard like Dumbledore nearby was a plus.

"Professor, the bit about having an ancestral home was a lie. I don't have any place to stay." She confessed, lowering her eyes.

"Hogwarts will always help those who ask for it." Dumbledore's words made her look up, "All you need to do is ask."

"Money? Clothes? Books?"

"I believe we have a fund for students who lack such privileges, so that won't be a problem."

"Why are you helping me out, Professor? You can simply turn me in and get rid of me." Hermione said rather petulantly, "Would save you a whole lot of trouble and effort."

"Am I such a horrible person in the time you come from, Miss Granger?" Dumbledore asked her lightly and Hermione immediately shook her head. "No, of course not! You're the same, really, from what I've seen so far."

"That's an immense relief to hear, is it not?" Dumbledore stood up, waving his wand once. The candy wrappers which littered his desk vanished, leaving it impeccably clean. He walked over to his bookshelf and reached up, pulling the ancient sorting hat from atop and held it in his hand as he motioned for Hermione to take a stool near Fawkes' pedestal.

With a small smile, Hermione sat down on the stool and Professor Dumbledore placed the hat on her head.

" _Oh, is it time already?_ " The hat muttered in her ear, coming to life all of a sudden.

"Not really." Hermione replied, knowing that the hat will be able to see everything inside her head for nothing could be hidden for it.

" _Now this is a peculiar one. You have been sorted before, it seems but in another time, another place. How very peculiar indeed."_

"Tell me about it." Hermione muttered, shifting uncomfortably on the stool as the hat contemplated its options.

" _Mind sharper than the edge of a sword but the heart of a lion, I see. I am in the same dilemma as the first time round…"_

"I'd do better in Gryffindor, at least its familiar. Somewhat…" Hermione swallowed. Will she really? Harry and Ron weren't a part of this timeline. But James Potter was.

" _Are you certain? With a mind like yours, you could achieve great things in Ravenclaw .Great things._ "

"I'd consider your offer but I don't belong here." Hermione sighed, wishing for the sorting to be over as soon as possible.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that…but yes…better be… Gryffindor!" The hat boomed the last sentence out loud.

Hermione removed the hat from her head after silently thanking it and placed it on the stool as she stood up. "Same as the first time, really. Either Ravenclaw or Gryffindor."

Dumbledore seemed satisfied with the sorting hat's decision but before he could say anything, the door to his office opened once more and in the entrance stood a younger Minerva McGonagall. Her face had less wrinkles than Hermione remembered and her jet black hair were up in a tight bun. The witch looked as formidable as usual, even more so as she gazed at Hermione and Dumbledore in quick succession.

"You sent for me, Albus?" She asked, getting straight to the point.

"Ah yes, Minerva. Meet the transfer student I was talking about." He ushered Hermione forward.

"Good evening, Professor, I am Hermione Clearwater." Hermione greeted her with a nod, which she returned.

"You shall address me as Professor McGonagall." She told Hermione, thought not unkindly. "Is the sorting over with?"

"I believe so. Gryffindor has a new, rather bright addition to it I believe." Dumbledore beamed, placing the sorting hat back on the shelf. Hermione blushed slightly at the compliment.

"Ah, good. Come, Miss Clearwater, I will show you to your tower. Merlin knows this house can use a few level headed students." For some reason, Hermione instantly knew who Professor McGonagall was talking about.

"Um…Professor…" Hermione felt embarrassed for some reason. "I don't have any clothes or books."

"They will be provided for, shortly." Dumbledore answered even as McGonagall gave her a questioning look. "As for the books, I will accompany you to the Diagon Alley myself tomorrow so you can buy all the necessary items."

"Thank you, Professor." Hermione finally gave him a warm smile, expressing her gratitude as best as she could. She knew confiding in Dumbledore had been the right choice.

She followed the head of her house down the various corridors and stairways which led up to the Gryffindor tower. She had to keep a brisk pace to match that of the Transfiguration teacher.

"Longbottom, why are you loitering around? There is a class going on!" Professor McGonagall reprimanded a lanky, dark haired boy who Hermione recognized as Frank Longbottom, Neville's father. Her heart clenched as she remembered him from her visit to St. Mungo's. Him and his wife Alice Longbottom had been tortured to insanity by Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange by the illegal use of the Cruciatus curse.

"Professor..." he panted, clutching a stitch at his side. "Forgot…my…essay…in… my…dorm."

"Maybe Augusta should send you a remembrall this Christmas, Mr. Longbottom. It might do you some good. Go, quickly!" McGonagall waved him ahead impatiently and the boy scurried ahead of them, heading for the Gryffindor Tower. Hermione suppressed a smile. _Like father, like son._

Soon, they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady who allowed them entrance when provided with the correct password- _Hippogriff_

Hermione entered first and there was a flurry of movement at her entrance. At first glance, the common room appeared deserted but Hermione caught sight of black fringes poking out from behind the sofa and a hint of a school robe beneath the table in the corner.

"Albus explained earlier you're a transfer from Beauxbatons and he explained the reasoning behind it too." To Hermione's surprise, Professor McGonagall's usually stern expression softened a bit. "You see, Hogwarts is slightly different from Beauxbatons. It might be a bit unnerving at first but you will get used to it soon. This is the common room to your house and the girl's dormitories lie separate from the boy's and yours is on the ride side," she pointed to the staircase leading up to the girl's dorms, which Hermione was all too familiar with but she nodded along anyway.

"Now, certain rules are to be followed by all students of Hogwarts and the same will be expected from you, Miss Clearwater." Professor McGonagall fixed her with a stern gaze. _There she is, Hermione_ thought.

"You are not allowed to venture anywhere near the Forbidden Forest under any circumstance unless a Professor is accompanying you. You have to maintain a proper dress code and I will not tolerate hiked up skirts or un-tucked blouses, God forbid shirts opened halfway to display your assets to the whole world."

There was a slight snicker from behind Hermione but she did her best to ignore the sound even as her face became slightly pink. "Yes, Professor. I am-I am not into all that."

"I hope not, Miss Clearwater." McGonagall continued, "Magic in corridors is strictly forbidden and there is a curfew. Students must not be found loitering about in the corridors after night falls or the consequences will be dire. Any questions so far?"

"No, Professor."

"Good. Now, I have a class to teach. Your dorm is on the first landing, third door on the right. Your clothes will be delivered shortly to you." Professor McGonagall moved towards the portrait role but paused for a moment, "Oh and detention to you three, Mr. Potter, Mr. Black and Mr. Pettigrew." With that, she ducked out of the opening and left.

"Man, every single time!" James hopped up from his hiding place behind the sofa and whacked Peter on the back of his head. "Why did you snicker?"

"Did not!" He protested, rubbing his head.

"Did so!"

"I heard you too," Hermione pointed out.

"And who asked you?" Peter scowled at her petulantly and Hermione simply rolled her eyes, crossing the room to make her way to her assigned dorm. However, she was startled as another figure popped from underneath the table and she nearly fell back-or would have done so had a hand not shot out to stabilize her.

"Whoa, _Miss Clearwater_ , easy." Sirius cautioned her, grabbing hold of her arm.

"Don't do that!" Hermione protested weakly, placing a hand on her chest. She was still not used to seeing such a young version of Sirius Black and add Harry's apparently dead father and their traitor friend to the mix…not to forget their werewolf best friend who was recovering in the Hospital Wing. It was almost too much to handle all at once.

"Or what? You'll curse at me in French?" He snickered and Hermione yanked her arm away from his grip.

"I just might." She scowled at him, intending to brush past him and head for the dorms but Sirius blocked her way.

"What do you want, Black?" She sighed in exasperation.

"I've got my eyes on you, Hermione." He pointed two fingers towards his eyes and then at her. Hermione had only seen people do that in movies previously and couldn't help but let out a snort.

"Yeah? Well, I hope you don't have to blink." She shot back, brushing past him by intentionally bumping hard into his shoulder, making him stagger this time.

"Savage." James muttered.

"Humph." Peter supplied.

"Lioness you are, no doubt about that." Was the last thing she heard Sirius say before she slammed the dorm room shut.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: At the end of chapter three, I left Dumbledore's statement about the marauder's nocturnal adventures open to interpretation. He might not necessarily be aware that they can transform into animagi but he certainly knows that they have been sneaking out after curfew every now and then!
> 
> Thank you for all the kudos and comments!


	5. 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione tries to settle in and meets some more famous faces from the past.

"I want to give my O.W.L's _again_ , professor." Hermione spoke up as soon as she entered Dumbledore's office. The Headmaster looked up from his copy of the Daily Prophet and peered at Hermione over his half moon spectacles, his piercing blue eyes narrowing ever so slightly.

Over the course of the next few days, Hermione met up with Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall once more in order to discuss her O.W.L's. While Dumbledore insisted that it wasn't necessary for her to appear for the exams, she wouldn't budge. Hermione was downright paranoid as far as her examination results were concerned and since she had never gotten around to knowing her actual O.W.L result from her own timeline, she wanted to take the exams again and determine where she stood.

After a somewhat lengthy discussion, Dumbledore finally relented and Hermione got busy with revision, appearing far more enthusiastic than any student had a right to be as far as exams were concerned. As she pored over her books, she found out that strangely, the course material from 1976 was more or less the same as the course material from 1996. By the time the week was over, she was done with most of her exams and was severely exhausted.

Her last exam was Defense against the Dark Arts. Stifling a yawn behind her hand, she patted down on her disheveled hair as she made her way to the classroom she had been assigned to. Since she was the only one giving the examination, a singular table had been placed in the middle of the room and a bored looking professor Parkinson was on invigilation duty, to Hermione's surprise.

"Barely on time." Professor Melania Parkinson, her new DADA teacher drawled as she glanced down at her silver pocket watch and arched an eyebrow at Hermione. "You know, at Durmstrang we deduct marks for such…tardiness."

Bewildered, Hermione checked her own wrist watch and saw that she was right on time. A minute early, in fact.

"I…um…" She shook her head as she took her seat, "You taught at Durmstrang, professor?" Hermione couldn't help but ask, feeling curious.

"Indeed." Professor Parkinson sighed, glancing around the room with a dreary expression. The woman was dressed formidably as usual but not without grace. Her high necked emerald green robe was form fitting and fell down to her ankles in perfect ripples. She had a long, swan like neck which was the envy many female students and she was rather good looking. She wore her long black curls in a high bun and never went without her signature red lipstick which reminded Hermione of the colour of wine.

 _Or blood_ , she thought with a slight shudder, instantly scolding herself for getting distracted.

With a flourish of her wand, the teacher levitated the question paper on to her table.

"I rather miss teaching at Durmstrang, you know." She continued, as if speaking to herself. She hadn't glanced at Hermione once since she had entered the room. "Better discipline, the correct environment to hone talent and…" her deep green eyes finally flickered to Hermione as she pursed her lips. " _Selective_ enrollment."

Hermione understood at once what she was implying. _No muggleborns._

"Don't tell Albus I said that, though. I rather need this job." She mused, casting her sorrowful eyes down to her lap. Hermione cleared her throat, "Of course." she responded a bit coldly.

"You're a smart girl, Hermione," Hermione jumped when she took her name. She didn't even know Professor Parkinson knew who she was. They had run into each other just one time after all, when she had gone to Dumbledore's office.

Melania Parkinson held her gaze for a moment, "I don't think I need to repeat the examination hall rules for you once again, do you, my love?" the change in her tone was abrupt and rather unnerving. It almost felt like she was going to say something else but changed her mind at the last moment.

"No, professor." Hermione affirmed, feeling somewhat uneasy.

"Well, you have two hours." Even before Professor Parkinson had finished speaking, Hermione had turned the question paper over and was already scanning the first question, relieved to put an end to their rather uncomfortable conversation.

_What are the distinguishing characteristics of a werewolf?_

Hermione smirked slightly as she dipped her quill into the ink. _Piece of cake._

**OoOoOoOoOoOo**

After the examination was over, Hermione fretted over not being able to cram in a couple more lines to her already foot long answer about the restrictions surrounding the use of the three Unforgivable Curses. Melania Parkinson had shot her an incredulous glance after she had let out a disappointed whimper when her paper had been summoned.

"Get some rest; you look like you can use it." The teacher advised as she left the room. With a sigh, Hermione collected her stationary and placed it neatly in her satchel. She could really use a good night's sleep but her growling stomach said otherwise. She groaned when she saw that dinner was still an half an hour away. To pass the remaining time, she decided to head to the library to conduct some research of her own.

More often than not, Hermione found herself devising ways of sneaking into the restricted section of the library. She had thought about going to Professor Dumbledore himself to get herself a pass from him but the idea didn't agree with her.

_If only I had Harry's invisibility cloak._

She stopped dead in her tracks as that thought crossed her mind. Harry's invisibility cloak had belonged to his father before it had landed with Dumbledore. And Harry's said father was making a fool out of himself as-

"Wormtail, look!" James shouted as he, Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin came into view as she turned a corner. Hermione stopped and looked at James with her arms crossed across her chest as he balanced his wand on his forehead.

"Three whole minutes!" Peter cheered while Remus hung back and shoved his hands into his pockets, appearing weary of his friend's nonsensical game.

"Really? How old are you? _Five?_ " Hermione scoffed as she moved past the boys and headed towards the library. James scowled at her as he lost focus which resulted in his wand ending up on the floor. Hermione's gaze shifted to Remus as she walked past him and her step faltered slightly as she caught him looking at her as well. The last time she had seen him, he had been weak and hospitalized. Internally, she sighed in relief when she saw that he looked much better. His soft green eyes crinkled up slightly as he gave her a hesitant smile, which Hermione returned after a moment before leaving the gang behind.

Young or old, the kindness which reflected from Remus' soft gaze remained constant across time.

Finally, she reached the library and slumped down on the nearest table to catch her breath. She was almost as exhausted as she had been during her third year when she had decided to take extra classes with the help of the time turner assigned to her by the Ministry of Magic. She rested her head on top of the table, finding relief as the cool, polished wood caressed her cheek. She forgot about her research momentarily as she dozed off a few moments after closing her eyes.

She was jarred awake as a gang of Slytherins entered the library. They paid no mind to her as they claimed a table at the right wing, chattering rather loudly amongst themselves. Hermione frowned as she lifted her head to tell them off. _This is a library, for Merlin's sake!_

However, she paused with her mouth slightly open as she caught sight of a third year boy who was lounging on the table instead of the chair like a normal person should. He seemed somewhat familiar to Hermione but she couldn't place her finger on where she had seen him before. He had short, ink black hair and startling grey eyes, which rested beneath full brows.

"Did you see the look on McDonald's face? Oh Merlin," A sixth year Slytherin cackled, holding his stomach as an exaggeration of his glee.

"Avery, quiet." A nervous, blonde haired girl caste a suspicious glance around the room. "Someone will hear us and will know it was you."

"Like I'm scared." The cackling sixth year, apparently named Avery responded haughtily. "Anyway, it wasn't just me alone, was it?" He leaned over and clapped the grey eyed boy hard on the shoulder. He hid his wince well as he gave Avery a tight smile in return. "Reg here set the whole thing up."

Something tickled Hermione's calf beneath the table but she ignored it, inching to the right to catch the conversation. She knew that eavesdropping was a bad thing but she was too curious.

"She had it coming," Reg, the grey eyed boy, shrugged with an air of nonchalance but Hermione knew better. "Filthy blood traitor. As if I would ever be her friend!"

The blonde haired girl mimed vomiting and everyone laughed. From her desk, the librarian Madam Pince threw them a dirty glance, which went ignored.

When Hermione had been young, she didn't have many friends. She spent most of her time reading books and watching people instead of interacting with them. That habit had stuck with her and she grew up observing the people around her, watching them closely. Understanding them.

And right now, she could tell that even though this person named Reg had a bitter tongue, he did not mean half of what he said. As much as he tried to fit in with the gang of older Slytherins, he couldn't.

Hermione snapped out of her reverie as the word 'mudblood' caught her attention. Bristling up, she pushed back her chair to confront the bunch of buffoons but sat back down stunned as something grabbed her ankle beneath the table. Yelping slightly, she peered down and her eyes grew wide as she caught sight of Sirius Black cowering beneath the table, holding her ankle in place with one hand and making a shushing motion with the other.

" _What are you-?_ " Hermione hissed, dropping her voice as some eyes shifted to her.

Sirius sighed, raking his fingers through his hair as Hermione wrenched her leg away from his grasp, her cheeks colouring slightly due the absurd position they were in.

"Don't make a noise, I'll explain everything later. I swear." Sirius tried explaining in a desperate tone but Hermione interrupted him.

"You were here the whole time? Why didn't you say anything?"

"Do we really have to play twenty questions right now?" Sirius shot back.

Hermione just stared at him incredulously, fidgeting with the hem of her skirt to cover as much of her legs as she could. Sirius was directly beneath her, for Merlin's sake! She couldn't even begin to explain how improper the whole thing was.

"Get out of here!"

"I can't!"

"I will-" Hermione shut up instantly as Madam Pince leaned over her shoulder, glaring at her with her hawk like eyes. "Is there a problem?"

"I…was just wondering if I can take this book back to my dorm?" She diverted hastily, pulling her chair in to block Sirius from her view right beneath her table. Her calf brushed against his thigh and she gritted her teeth as she tried to maintain a neutral expression.

Madam Pince narrowed her eyes ever so slightly, "Well, yes. This is a library. That's what you do here." She responded dryly. "As long as you follow the proper procedure."

"Right. You see, I am a transfer student for Beauxbatons and over there-" She never got a chance to finish her sentence as the librarian lost interest in her and went over to the gang of Slytherins to snap at them instead.

She let out a shaky breath and peered under the table, "Very slowly, get out of there and take a seat beside me. Do it!" She kicked Sirius with a foot to prompt him into action and he yelped lightly before springing up from beneath the table. He flopped down on a stool beside her when no one was looking and rubbed his shoulder as he cast Hermione a look of utter disdain.

"Were you by any chance _spying_ on me?" Hermione asked him venomously, slamming her book shut.

"What?" Sirius appeared taken aback, "Why would I spy on _you_?"

"Oh really now?" Hermione hissed, "I can't account for your weak memory, Black but I remember each and every word you said to me in the common room rather vividly!"

"That was a joke! Merlin's pants." Sirius swore, "You may be the hot-shot of the week but I am not interested in you _at all_ , Clearwater."

"Hot-Shot of the we-" Hermione clamped her mouth shut, feeling annoyed. Hogwarts didn't get many transfer students from the neighbouring schools and clearly, her presence was creating a stir amongst the student body. She had been subjected to stares and even _pointing_ throughout the week but she had chosen to ignore it as best as she could.

"Alright," she nodded, "Then explain why in the name of Godric were you lurking beneath my table like a-a creep!"

Sirius dragged a hand over his face, appearing like the very image of exasperation. "It's not my fault that you chose the one table underneath which I was…I was…"

"You were _what?_ " I _swear to God, if you don't finish that sentence within the next ten seconds…_

"Hey Regulus, say hi to your scum-loving brother!"

Both Hermione and Sirius turned to glance at the gang of Slytherins as they closed in on them from behind. Sirius immediately bristled up in his seat.

"He is _not_ my brother." Regulus spat, crossing his arms across his chest as he met Sirius' steely gaze.

"I'd correct you but I am on the verge of getting disowned anyway," Sirius shrugged, trying to appear casual. "Bummer."

"Serves you right, filth lover." The blonde haired girl snorted, placing a hand on Regulus' shoulder. "Let's go."

"Got yourself a girlfriend Reggie?" Sirius asked, crossing his hands behind his neck as he stretched out on his chair.

"Not your business anymore, Black." Avery muttered in a sing song voice.

"Shut it," Regulus snarled, "You got _yourself_ a girlfriend?" His eyes shifted to Hermione as a sneer crossed his face. "Let me guess, a mudblood?"

"Sirius, no!" Hermione spoke a second too late. Sirius had already leapt out of his chair and had slammed Regulus against the nearest bookshelf.

"I warned you not to use that word in front of me!" Sirius roared, tightening his hold around Regulus' collar.

Thankfully, before any actual harm could be done, Madam Pince broke up the fight and threw everyone out of the library with a strict warning.

"And stay out!" She hissed, slamming the door on their faces.

"Black...Sirius... come on." Hermione shouldered her bag and tugged at his arm. Avery was leering at him dangerously a few meters away and the blonde haired girl was attending to Regulus, who appeared shaken. " _Don't_ be an idiot."

For a moment, it looked like Sirius would yank his hand out of Hermione's grasp but to her surprise, he relented, letting her drag him away.

"Does Beauxbatons allow Mudbloods in? Aren't the French like, supposed to be sophisticated and all?" The girl whispered in Regulus' ear. Irritated, he brushed her off. "Not now, Stacy."

"We won't forget, scum lover!" Avery called out from behind them.

"Ignore them." Hermione stressed.

"Don't worry Avery," Sirius responded darkly, not paying any attention to her. "Neither would I."

**OoOoOoOoOoOo**

"What was that?" Hermione asked Sirius as soon as they were out of sight.

"He called you a Mudblood!" Sirius exclaimed loudly, "Are you deaf?"

"I've been called worse, it doesn't matter." Hermione replied truthfully as Draco Malfoy's pale, pointed face flashed in her mind. "You could have gotten yourself into some serious trouble."

Instead of saying anything, Sirius' frown melted away as he gave her a lazy grin.

"What? Oh no, don't even start that." Hermione sighed as Sirius let out a low chuckle.

"You can't expect to use words like 'serious' in front of me and-"

"Okay, okay I get it." Hermione rolled her eyes. "But really, you need to stop being so impulsive."

"You hardly even know me." Sirius frowned.

"I know enough."

A short silence followed as they walked side by side, heading straight for the Great Hall.

"He- Regulus- he is your brother, isn't he?" Hermione asked him softly.

Sirius simply shrugged.

"You were spying on him." Hermione connected the dots.

"Now, spying is a big wor- okay, yeah. I was." He admitted, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "I worry about him sometimes. He's not-" He stopped speaking, his dense grey eyes flitting to look down at Hermione as if realizing that he had said too much."Nevermind."

She chose not to push him even though she was burning with curiosity.

"Hey Hermione?"

"Yes?" She looked up at him, a bit startled.

"You're still holding my hand." His eyes shifted down to their conjoined hands. Immediately, she let him go as if burned. A low, bark like chuckle escaped Sirius' mouth as he flicked his head to push a stray fringe back.

"You look like you're going to drop dead any second, by the way. You're giving Prongs-er, James- a run for his money going by the state of your hair. Hey-hey, are you okay?"

Hermione didn't get a chance to reply as she swayed dangerously. Had it not been for Sirius' grip around her elbow, she would have tumbled head first down the stairs.

"Clearwater? Er-Hermione?"

"I-I am okay." She took a deep breath as everything came back into focus. Her stomach rumbled loudly as if on cue and Sirius' frown morphed into an amused expression.

"Don't." Hermione warned him, wrenching her arm out of his grip. "I haven't eaten anything all day."

"Don't tell me you're on a diet or something. You're already skinny."

"I am not dieting! I am against-!" She spluttered. "And for your kind information, I am not skinny either! What even brought forth such an atrocious-?"

"Go eat something before your stomach digests itself, Clearwater." To her utter horror, Sirius mussed up her hair as he walked past her, leaving her in a state of dishevelment worse than before.

**OoOoOoOoOo**

On Sunday morning, Hermione was one of the first people out of bed. She took a long, hot shower and was in the process of towel drying her hair in her temporary, empty dorm when an owl swooped through the open window. Hermione let out a scream as she dropped her towel on the floor and snatched the envelope out of the owl's beak.

With trembling fingers, she broke the Hogwarts seal and unfolded the piece of paper which held her O.W.L results.

* * *

**ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL RESULTS**

**Pass Grades:**

**Outstanding (O)**

**Exceeds Expectations (O)**

**Acceptable (A)**

**Fail Grades:**

**Poor (P)**

**Dreadful (D)**

**Troll (T)**

**HERMIONE JEAN GRANGER HAS ACHIEVED:**

**Ancient Runes: O**

**Arthimancy: O**

**Astronomy: O**

**Care of Magical Creatures: O**

**Defence Against the Dark Arts: O**

**Herbology: O**

**Potions: O**

**Transfiguration: O**

* * *

Slowly, Hermione exhaled; surprised that she had been holding her breath the whole time. She had managed to achieve an 'Outstanding' in each and every single examination despite the limited time she had for revision.

"Er…hello?"

Hermione looked up from the parchment and saw a girl with flaming hair standing at the doorway to her dorm. Her eyes widened when she realized who it was. She had passed the girl many times in the corridors but they had never spoken to each other until now. She had bright, emerald green eyes which reminded her so much of Harry and there was something about the way she carried herself that brought forth memories of her good friend and confidante, Ginny. Also, the red hair helped.

At that moment she realised just how terribly she missed her friends.

"Hey," Hermione responded breathily, snapping her mouth shut quickly as she realized that she was openly gaping at Lily Evans. Harry Potter's mother.

"I thought I heard someone scream and just wanted to check if everything was okay…" She trailed off.

"Oh um, its nothing." Hermione chuckled nervously, "I just got my O.W.L result, that's all."

"Oh yes, you're the transfer student from Beauxbatons, right?" Lily's eyes flashed with realisation. "News travels fast." She added almost sheepishly as Hermione looked momentarily startled.

 _Does everyone know who I am? This is not helping._ Hermione wasn't particularly enjoying the scrutiny she was being placed under by the student body. Her initial plan had been to blend in and not attract attention. One wrong step and she could end up changing the future in drastic ways. _What if I already am simply by being where I am not supposed to be?_

"Oh, how silly of me! I am Lily Evans." The red head extended her hand with a soft smile on her face. Eagerly, Hermione took it, inviting her into her room.

"Hermione Gr-Clearwater." She caught herself just on time.

"Merlin's Beard!" Lily gasped as her eyes strayed to Hermione's O.W.L result which was lying atop the bed. "You scored an 'Outstanding' in every single subject!"

Hermione blushed, hastily folding up her result and stuffing it back into the envelope.

"You're the first person in our year to do that." Lily continued, oblivious to Hermione's embarrassment. "You even beat me." She added seriously.

"Oh…um…"

"Come on, lighten up!" Lily laughed and Hermione heaved a sigh of relief when she realized that she was only joking. "I lagged behind in Herbology. It's not my cup of tea, to be honest."

"Merlin Lily, it's a Sunday morning, tone down your yammering!" An irritated female voice floated down from the hallway.

"Ah, that would be our lovely Miss McKinnon." Lily rolled her eyes at Hermione.

"You're a morning person like me, I assume." Hermione replied, to which Lily nodded.

"Always have been," she confirmed. "Alice-my friend and dorm mate- used to think way back in our first year that I was suffering from some sort of sleeping disorder!" Lily laughed and Hermione joined in, warming up to the red headed girl by the moment.

"Can you tell me where dorm 312 is? Now that I am officially a part of Hogwarts, I'm supposed to move into a more permanent dorm." Hermione explained to Lily as she collected her belongings and placed them neatly in her trunk. With a flick of her wand, she folded her clothes and levitated from her closet to her trunk.

"312, you say?" Lily grinned. "Why, Hermione, that would be my dorm. Neat, by the way. I can never fold clothes like you do." She nodded towards Hermione's trunk, looking impressed.

Hermione's heart leapt. Sharing a dorm with Harry's mother?

"I can teach you!" She responded enthusiastically. "It's all about how you move your wrist, really. It's a simple spell theoretically but of course, applying it practically is different. That's why I always stress that actually using the spells we spend hours memorizing is important."

Lily looked even more impressed at Hermione's little monologue and watched keenly as she demonstrated the correct wrist movement.

"Now you try."

"Now? Oh, okay." She muttered the spell under her breath and copied the wrist movement Hermione had displayed moments before precisely, giving a small cheer as the towel which Hermione had dropped folded itself neatly.

"You, my friend, are going to be immensely useful." Lily grinned, beckoning to Hermione. "Come on, I'll show you our dorm and introduce you to the others. We can move your stuff in after breakfast."

_Friend. She called me a friend._

Brimming with emotion, Hermione followed Lily out of her temporary dorm and down to hallway till they reached dorm 312 and Lily flung the door open. "Girls, get up already!"

"Merlin, Lils!" A woman with short, spiky hair pulled a pillow over her face as the curtains sprang back at a flick from Lily's wand, letting sunlight stream in. "This is physically painful to my eyes!"

"Oh don't be dramatic, Alice." Lily rolled her eyes at Hermione. "I want you all to meet someone."

"Not interested." Another voice spoke up from beneath the blankets.

"Marlene, don't be rude!" Lily snapped.

"I'll be whatever I want when you decide to wake up me at an ungodly hour on a Sunday morning." The voice added sleepily.

"It's…um…fine, really." Hermione tried but Lily cut her off.

"Marls, come on, don't you wanna meet out new dorm mate?"

"What?" Finally, the girl Lily was referring to as Marlene emerged from beneath her blankets and sat up on her bed. Alice too was in the process of shuffling to the bathroom. Hermione noticed that the corner most bed was empty but a trunk was visible beneath the bed.

"Oh, so the French chick has been assigned to our dorm? Cheers." Marlene said dryly. She had long, blonde hair and her eyes were a startling shade of blue.

"I am not actually French." Hermione corrected her from behind Lily even as the red head shot her an apologetic look.

"Well girls, this is Hermione Clearwater. Hermione, that's Alice over there and this is Marlene." Lily pointed to each girl as she introduced them. "As you can see, Marlene loves being sarcastic. I wouldn't take it personally."

"Love you too, Lils." Marlene snorted, stepping out of her bed. She threw her head back and collected her long, blonde tresses in order to make a bun on top of her head. Hermione simply gawked at her, amazed at the way Marlene carried herself. She looked like she had stepped out of a muggle fashion magazine even at seven in the morning.

"Well, I guess it was nice meeting you Miss Not-French," Marlene nodded at Hermione as she joined Alice in the bathroom to brush her teeth.

"I guess." Hermione frowned, stepping out of her way to let her pass.

"Alright!" Lily clapped her hands, diverting Hermione's attention. "We have another dorm mate you haven't met yet. Her name is Mary McDonald and-" Lily's face fell slightly.

"McDonald? I've heard that name before." Hermione mused.

"Oh?" Lily arched an eyebrow.

"Oh, yes! Some Slytherins were talking about her in the library the other day…" Hermione trailed off, "Is something the matter?" She asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"Mary was the victim of an attack a few days back. She is currently in the Hospital Wing." Lily explained tersely. Hermione gasped.

"Will she be okay?"

"Oh, yes, definitely. She was pushed down the stairs and has a fractured leg and several cuts but Madam Pomfrey-the matron- has assured us that she will be fine in a week or so."

"Someone actually pushed her down the stairs?" Hermione's eyebrows threatened to disappear into her hairline. "That's-that's…"

"Horrible, I know." Lily sighed, sinking down on her bed.

"It was her own damn fault." Marlene quipped in, striding back to her bed and flopping down on top of the covers.

"Marls!" Alice admonished her, emerging from the bathroom after Marlene. "Don't say that!"

"The truth is harsh, eh?" Marlene chuckled humourlessly. Lily and Alice exchanged an exasperated glance. Hermione shifted her balance uncomfortably from one foot to another. "Maybe I should…er…come back later-"

"No, no you're good." Alice assured her with a smile. "You're out dorm mate now, might as well join in on the gossip and drama."

"I mean, I know Mary can be a bit naïve sometimes but getting all chummy with those idiotic snakes and not expecting any repercussions is way out there, even for her." Marlene continued, ignoring Alice and Hermione.

"I had friends in Slytherin too, Marls." Lily pitched in, a bit hurt.

"And we all saw how that one ended. Did you enjoy being called a 'mudblood' in front of half the student body by stupid Snivellus?" Marlene shot back.

"Marlene!" Alice warned her. "Don't start that now. Lily-" she turned to her friend but she had already left the room.

Hermione decided to go after Lily. It was better than standing around listening to Marlene's hostile ramblings. "I'll go check on her." She said quickly and exited the room, following Lily to the common room.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked her softly, hanging back slightly. She had never been good with having female friends. Back in her own timeline, her only friends were Ron, Harry and Ginny. Ginny was not like the other girls and that had helped their friendship grow over the years. Hermione barely suppressed a shudder as she thought about her old roommates. Parvati and Lavender didn't interact with her much but whenever they did, it didn't end well. They had nothing in common and all they were interested in was gossip and boys.

The mere thought of it made Hermione cringe.

"I am so sorry, Hermione. Marlene can be a bit…difficult at times." Lily sighed, patting the seat beside her on the sofa.

"You don't have to apologise on her behalf." Hermione assured her as she sat down. "I don't understand, however. What's her problem?"

"She has always been like that, I am afraid. It gets easier once you actually get to know her but she can get a bit hard to handle at times. She is a really nice person, though." Lily added quickly. "And one of my closest friends despite everything."

 _That's a bit hard to imagine._ "I see. I think she doesn't like me very much, though." Hermione shrugged.

"No, no it's not like that." Lily assured her hastily. "It's just…" she played with a strand of her hair as she talked, "It's our friend, Mary. Ever since she was attacked, Marlene has been on the edge. We all have been, really."

Before Hermione could respond however, James Potter stumbled down the stairs from the boy's dormitories and stretched like a cat, groaning as he did so. His glasses were slightly askew and his hair was sticking out in all directions.

"Oh Merlin..." Lily muttered under her breath as James caught sight of them and bounded up to them like an excited puppy.

"Alright, Evans?" He flopped down on the armchair adjacent from Lily and crossed his legs regally on the table. After receiving a glare from Lily however, he uncrossed his legs and sat up straight. "Oh hey, Hermione."

"Good morning, James." Hermione smiled at him.

"You two know each other?" Lily asked, as if reconsidering her recently instated friendship with Hermione.

"You can say that, I suppose." Hermione responded, feeling thoroughly amused by the tension between James and Lily.

"Hey Evans, guess what?" James began happily.

"I don't want to."

"Come on!"

"No! Leave me alone, Potter."

"I balanced my wand on top of my head for three and a half minutes yesterday." James boasted proudly, puffing out his chest.

"And that information is supposed to make me swoon and fall in love with you?" Lily questioned him haltingly, as if questioning his sanity.

"It was three minutes and barely fifteen seconds, Evans. Bloke is lying through his teeth." Peter called out from behind them. The common room was slowly beginning to fill with people as the morning progressed.

"Oi!" James protested. "I was merely quoting a well rounded estimate!"

"I…am out of here. I will see you later, Hermione." After shooting James a look of disdain, she stomped across the length of the common room and exited through the portrait hole.

"What did I do?" James whined to anyone who would listen.

"You might want to work on your…er…flirting techniques, James." Hermione pointed out as she picked up someone's copy of _Advanced Potion Making_ from the side table and riffled through it.

"Isn't three minutes impressive, Hermione?" James asked her, the very image of sadness.

"It is!" Peter assured him, sitting down beside James. Hermione shifted on her seat uncomfortably and tried not to look at Peter Pettigrew, who was still very much a traitor in her mind.

"It's not that," Hermione shook her head, wondering if James was actually being serious. "To actually get a girl to like you, you have to be a bit…let's see…mature."

"I can be mature." James deadpanned.

"Then prove it to _her_." Hermione encouraged him.

"Right. Thanks, Hermione!" He beamed at her and Hermione felt her heart melt further. It was almost like dealing with Harry and the thought brought some comfort to her.

Hermione went back to reading _Advanced Potion Making_ , trying to catch up with the sixth year's course material. Since the session had already started, she was lagging behind a little. However, she couldn't concentrate for long as Sirius barged in through the portrait hole, holding his broom against his shoulder.

"What's up, suckers?" He asked, flopping down on the floor beside Hermione's legs, leaning his head on the sofa cushion just beside her knee. Scandalized, she scooted over to the other end of the sofa and threw him a dirty look.

"Wormy, am I going blind or something? I think I need to change my glasses." James quipped in.

"I think I need new eyes altogether." Peter mumbled, rubbing his eyes for effect.

"What? Oh come on," Sirius rolled his eyes. "I am very much capable of getting up early on a Sunday morning. Anything for Quidditch."

Hermione noticed that Sirius' clothes were damp and his hair was windswept. She snorted slightly.

"Problem?" Sirius asked her as he lolled his head to the side to look at her and quirked a dark eyebrow.

"If only you showed half as much enthusiasm for other, actually productive stuff as you do for something as insignificant and not to mention, highly dangerous and idiotic like Quiddit-"

She couldn't even finish her sentence due to the uproar that followed.

" _What?_ " James slumped back in his armchair, looking aghast.

"You've got to be kidding me. Take that back!" Peter protested.

"I think I just died a little inside." Sirius responded numbly. "You don't like Quidditch? Moony!" Sirius jumped up to greet his friend as he came downstairs, freshly showered and dressed. "She-she doesn't like Quidditch!"

"Oh for God's sake!" Hermione rolled her eyes. "Yes, I don't! My happiness does not depend upon an illogical sport like-"

"I'd stop right there if I were you." James advised her as Sirius threw her a murderous look.

"Don't worry; I'm not big on Quidditch either." Remus Lupin shrugged as he glanced down at the seat beside Hermione. "Can I-?"

"Yes, of course. Logical minded people are _always_ welcome." Hermione turned her nose up haughtily and for the first time, Remus cracked a grin.

"Uh-oh. New mission: Keep Moony and Clearwater apart." Sirius muttered under his breath, glancing nervously between Hermione and Remus.

"Ignore him. I do." Remus muttered to Hermione. Peter was still trying to cheer James up after Hermione's recent Quidditch bashing and Sirius was alternating glares between Hermione and Remus.

"Oh trust me," Hermione smirked, feeling for the first time that she actually might fit in. "I plan to."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was longer than the previous ones. Things are finally falling into place for Hermione and she is settling down and meeting all sorts of new people.
> 
> Oh, by the way, I really want to know everyone's thoughts on 'Cursed Child'. What did you think? I personally don't know how to feel about it, to be honest. Is it just me or did the whole thing seem very OOC?
> 
> Another thing! As far as characterization goes, I personally imagine James Potter as Aaron Taylor Johnson, Sirius Black as Ben Barnes and Remus Lupin as Andrew Garfield. I still haven't picked an actor for Peter Pettigrew though...
> 
> Also, if it makes it easier to imagine, I see Karen Gillan as Lily and Natalie Dormer as Marlene. Of course, you are free to imagine whoever you think suits the roles best!
> 
> R&R por favor!


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